Since vacation

Even though it's been a while since I've posted, it's not because life has been boring.  Lots has been going on and I'll try to fill in some details.

Since vacation, Andy and I have been busy with doctor appointments.  We had his hearing tested and he needs hearing aids.  He's known that for quite a while, actually, but hasn't wanted to admit the extent of his hearing loss, for several reasons.  One, is hearing loss a sign of weakness or old age???  Two, hearing aids are very expensive.  Andy has never been a big spender (this is a good thing!), and especially doesn't spend money on himself.  But after pressure from his wife and daughters, he finally gave in to us and let me make an appointment.  He has significant hearing loss in the treble registers, which means it's harder to hear women's voices.  (I wonder if that's why he didn't want to get the hearing aids - he likes not hearing us! - yada, yada!)  When we heard the price, he had to be talked into the importance to his life of being able to hear what's going on.  So we are biting the bullet and getting them.  We're thinking of it as investing in his health so that he will be able to be more productive in his work and interpersonal relationships.

We've also had a number of birthday celebrations.  My mother celebrated her 85th on Thursday.  She is so energetic and full of spunk.  She was actually still working until a week or so ago.  She goes to exercise class twice a week, mows her own lawn, quilts and does all kinds of needlework, makes jellies and jams, plays games with her friends, etc.  She is an inspiration to me when I feel old or tired!  I left work at normal time on Thursday afternoon and drove up to visit with her and take her out to eat.  After dinner, we played some games before going to bed.  I stayed overnight and had breakfast and coffee with her before leaving mid morning and returning home.  I didn't take my camera with me so I have no pictures to post of our time together. 

Then last night, we had a surprise party for Andy's mom who turns 80 on Saturday.  Andy's brother Dan planned the party with some help from the rest of us.  He is so creative and interesting so of course the party was a lot of fun.  Mom was totally surprised and shocked.

With Jeff & Cindi

With Andy and Dan

Norma Jean, the Birthday Queen

All of our kids and their families were there so it was a lot of fun to be together.  Dawn organized a little song for the grandkids to sing to their Great Grandmom.

Little Claire won't let me put her down.  Of course, I'm happy to have as much cuddle time as possible with her.  And Tommy - photo bombing our picture.  What a guy!

We really haven't done much with the house except that we've recently noticed some weathering on the outside doors on the north side of the house.  Andy bought a storm door to install for the one door but then we got the idea to look into awnings for over the doors.  We had a company come out and give an estimate, then ordered them.  I like them, they add some interest to the back of the house (and we were able to return the storm door).

 In between all the excitement, I'm making a variety of summer salads for our dinners.


I just made this one up without a recipe.  It's pretty easy - just use the ingredients you'd use for tacos.

Taco Salad

Greek Pasta Salad

Top Ramen Salad

Maine Vacation 2013

Two weeks in Maine - wow!  Can life get any better!  The Welcome to Maine sign as you cross the border has the motto:  "the way life should be."  I'm not sure I completely agree with that, but I do agree that it's the way a vacation should be.

We left at 4:00 am on Saturday, July 20th and drove all day to arrive at Moosehead Lake by 2:15 pm.  We drive as far as we can with as few stops as possible, packing our breakfast and lunch in the car and eating as we drive.  It was so hot in NJ before we left, but as we drove north, the temperature in the car kept dropping till it was just right when we got to the lake.  Christy and Christian and kids arrived about 2 hours after we did and we fixed barbeque chicken pizza for supper and unpacked to settle in.

The next day, Sunday, we all went to church in Greenville.  Ron Reamer is pastor there and has been there for 5 years or so after serving in our own church here in Jersey.  However, he was on vacation so a guest speaker, Tom Allen, was speaking.  Tom is a faculty member at Cairn U and had been one of the professors at WWC, as well, so it was fun to get re-acquainted with him and his wife.

After church and lunch, we enjoyed the dock.  The sun was warm but there was a cool breeze.  The way life should be!

I'm not sure what we did on Monday.  I didn't write anything down that day, I guess we just did vacation-y type things.



It rained all day Tuesday, so as a diversion, Andy and I drove to town for a few things.  When we got back, Andy had some lunch and not too much later got very sick.  He spent the next several hours throwing up and having diarrhea - at the same time.  Poor guy!  He was in bed the rest of the day except for a short appearance after our supper.

It rained again on Wednesday.  Christy and gang went over to Beaver Cove to spend the day with her in-laws and the kids' cousins.  Andy and I enjoyed the quiet, then decided to drive to Jackman for dinner.  When we got there, we couldn't find the restaurant on the lake where we had eaten in previous years (found out later it had closed), so drove back to Greenville and ate at Kelly's Landing.  Whew-that's a lot of driving:  26 miles to Jackman, then 26 miles back and 20 more miles to Greenville.  We did see one moose running along the side of the road, but by the time Andy stopped the car and I got out to take the picture, the moose was pretty far away.  He looks like a dot in the distance.  Andy felt fine all day - very strange illness the day before.  Was it food poisoning?  Or some sort of stomach bug?

Another beautiful day on Thursday, with the sun shining and a cool refreshing breeze, perfect for climbing Mount Kineo (the way life should be!).  Christian and all the kids except Claire and Asher went over in the canoe, while Christy, Claire, Asher, Andy and I were going to take the shuttle.  However, there were so many people waiting to go across the lake because the weather was so gorgeous, that we didn't make the first cut.  Then as we're waiting for next shuttle, Christian's dad came by in his boat, so we all hopped in and saved the shuttle fee!  Christian's dad and mom, Christian's sister and brother-in-law and their kids all joined in the hike.  There were so many people hiking that day, we had never seen so many people at the top of the mountain.  It's a strenuous hike and I was exhausted the rest of the day.

PopPop and Claire

Where does he get all his abounding energy?

I love their expressions!

Friday was another rainy day.  We sat around in the morning, working on a puzzle.  In the afternoon, we went to town again.  Andy and I didn't stay long since we don't like to shop.  C & C & gang stayed all afternoon finding treasures and brought back lobsters, mussels, clams and scallops which they then cooked up for dinner.  That was an adventure!

On Saturday, we enjoyed another beautiful Maine day - the way life should be.  It started out cloudy but there was enough of a breeze to chase the clouds away.  So we headed over to Borestone Mountain and climbed that.  It went easier than I anticipated but our legs were shaky and weak on the way down.  It's certainly worth it, though: the view from the top, the cool breezes after the workout and the feeling of accomplishment in keeping up with the younger people.

Where we have to go

I made it

The moss chair

Making Grammy Nervous

Yikes!

 

We went to church again on Sunday morning.  Our own youth group was in attendance, enjoying a week in Maine after all their summer ministry service.  Our youth pastor, who happens to be related by marriage to Ron Reamer, preached the message.  After church and lunch, we enjoyed the sun on the dock by the lake.  I'm getting a nice tan! 

On Monday, we decided to hike the Burnt Jacket Trail near Jackman.  It came highly recommended by a friend.  So we drove the 26 miles to Jackman, then another 5 miles to the trailhead.  When we all got out of the cars, we were immediately surrounded by clouds of insects:  mosquitos and deer flies, thirsty for our blood.  We started hiking, being careful to keep arms swatting at our heads and moving as quickly as we could. 

C & C decided not to put up with the insect aggravation and they all left, so Andy and I continued on by ourselves to the top.  It was a nice trail, going through lots of ferns in spots.  But it was pretty wet and soggy in other spots and the rocks were slippery.  The bugs weren't as bad when we got going.  And of course, making it to the top made it worth all the aggravation:  cool breezes and lovely views (the way life should be - forget about bugs and humidity and difficult trails). 

In observing the view, though, one of the things we noticed was that there were some thick dark gray storm clouds rolling toward us, then thunder started echoing off the mountains.  We did not linger at the top, but hurried down, hoping to beat the storm - which we did!

On Tuesday, we decided to go to White Cap Mountain to hike, but on the way, Christy started feeling sick.  We ended up coming back to the house so she could lie down.  Christian and the kids played in  and on the lake, Andy went for a bike ride and I went to see my friend Ruth to walk with her around the lake and catch up on what we've been doing.

Well, on Wednesday, we made it to White Cap Mountain.  This mountain is part of the Appalachian Trail (AT).  It took us 1-1/2 hours to drive to the trail head and some of the road was rocky and pot-holey - very difficult driving.  The hike itself was written up as "moderate" but it was very long and parts, especially at the top, were VERY strenuous with stone stairs that seemed to go on forever.  It was 3 miles up, but as usual, it was beautiful at the top.  It was pretty clear so you could see mountain after mountain from up there, as well as lots of lakes nestled in the valleys.  It was very cool at the top which was so refreshing after all that climbing.  We ate our lunch up there, then hiked the 3 miles down.  What a long and vigorous hike.  I was never so glad to get back to the car.  Andy didn't go the whole way up, but I just had to go on.  I was about done in, though, I can tell you.

It was C & C's anniversary, so they had reservations to eat out and we took the kids for pizza.  When we got back to the house, Andy and the kids played on the dock for a little while, then came in for ice cream.  And about that time, C & C got back.

Thursday was a true vacation day:  sit on the dock and soak in the sun (the way life should be).  I did go into town with Christy for a couple of errands, but the rest of the day just relaxed.  We were all pretty tired from that strenuous hike yesterday.

When we woke up on Friday morning, it was pouring rain, so Andy and I decided to pack up and leave.  But by the time we showered, ate and packed up, it was already 10:30.  Poor Andy had to pack up the car in the pouring rain.  He got soaked.  It was a long and tiring drive.  Massachusetts was one long parking lot with an average speed of between 0 and 15 mph for many miles.  Ugh!  Not the way life should be.  Fortunately, I had my Kindle handy and The Mysterious Island, which we are currently reading, was at an exciting spot.  What took us a little over 10 hours to get to Maine, took almost 12 to get home. 

But we were happy to be home again and to have all day today to get settled back in:  laundry, grocery shopping, sorting the mound of mail and mowing the lawn.

Maine - the way life should be!