Priceless

$24 train ride to Boston

$2 t-ride to the North End

one dozen cannolis from Mike's Pastry - priceless!

Enjoy ~SJ

Mac vs PC

So blogosphere.... in case you don't keep up with me on Facebook I'm seeing a new guy. There has been weeks of debate over what his blog name will be. I will spare you the list and simply share that he will be known as MacPro. And in honor of MacPro I shall share one of my favorite Mac vs PC commercials since yes I'm a Mac Geek and enjoy watching them on the Apple website.

Sea-Monkeys

I can't believe it.... I have had a colony of sea-monkeys for over two years now and have yet to blog about them. I have blogged about all of my other pets - cats, ants, but never the sea monkeys. Typically they live at school and during the summer with enjoy the window sill near my kitchen sink. They have yet to make the big trip back to school and I have to admit that I have been enjoying them at home. Indexed recently posted an index about sea monkeys that just made me laugh out loud, and I decided to share.

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. I have a history of eating ice cream almost every day.

2. How to knit socks is something I wish I knew.

3. I'm eating (or recently ate) my portion of 18 pounds of pumpkin seeds.

4. I use my GPS when I am on the road, even to places I know how to go.

5. So that's it, that's almost all the time I have this morning devoted to watching students fill in little bubbles on standardized tests.

6. Warm coffee better than nothing!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching the high school field hockey game with my middle school players, tomorrow my plans include getting ready for the Dempsey Challenge and Sunday, I want to not have to walk in the rain!

Seriously Folks!

I have been a long time American Girl Doll fan - since around the age of 6. I had Kirsten and then Molly. This is way back when there were only three American Girls that we made in Europe. Let's flash forward twenty plus years to today. Now the American Girl Doll company has a store on 5th Avenue and is owned by Mattel (the owners of Barbie - GASP just the reason why I started playing with American Girl in the first place - to get away from Barbie!)

Now there are many more than three dolls in the line-up. I emailed American Girl early last year suggesting that they start making an Obama inspired doll - no can do. I just read today that they now have a homeless doll! Yes folks, a doll who is homeless for our pre-teens to play with! And we were worried about the poor body image that Barbie was sending. Let's just go back to the simple days of three dolls that you buy from a beautiful catalog and call it good!

Enjoy ~SJ

Codes

I own and rent government subsidized rental property. At times the hoops that you have to go through in order to meet all of the government codes are crazy! This recent Speed Bump comic reminds me of some of my recent conversations.

Enjoy ~SJ

It's 11 p.m.

.... and my lunch is packed, the crate is filled with all of my school books that came home for summer vacation, my "Big Paper" that was supposed to be done - isn't, things have been checked off my summer to-do list, and as of tonight there is a new shed in my driveway. Although tonight marks the end of summer as so many of the other River Valley Bloggers have commented via Facebook and their blogs, tonight also marks the beginning of a new year. Years have always begun for me in September and end in June, July and August are there own separate months. So let's raise our glass of pink lemonade and toast to another wonderful summer, I can't wait to play again next summer, but until then there are many more adventures to be had.

Enjoy ~SJ

Berry Challenges

I have said this hundreds of times, I love to pick all types of berries and could pick berries all day long. Summer of course is the best time to engage in this activity. Each type of berry poses its own challenges. Strawberries strains your legs, blueberries runs the risk of bears, and blackberries requires full body combat gear to even get into the bushes!

I have a little blackberry patch in my back yard, and grew up crawling through them for the precious fruit. Blackberries, like other fruit decided to grow on uneven ground adding to the overall challenge. As you carefully climb through the picky bush you not only need to make sure that you can get back out, but you also need to watch as carefully as you can your footing. Oh, and there is usually a snake or two so don't be startled.

It looks like I will be enjoying the yummy fruit from my yard over the next few weeks as long as I can figure out how to get myself to all of the fruit.

Enjoy ~SJ

Wonderful!

Enjoy ~SJ

I'm Trying To Be Good....

I have been working at my desk for many days now leaving only to feed and water myself. No, just kidding, it hasn't been that bad, but I have been logging excessive numbers of hours working on a paper that just doesn't seem to be going anywhere too fast. The blackberries have been taunting me out the window by slowly getting ripe. I think by this weekend I might be able to pick some to make a yummy treat. Until then I will try to get my work done.

Enjoy ~SJ

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. It's time for coffee and cereal.

2. _____; it's not a bad place for _____.

3. I must be crazy to think that I'm going to get all my work done next month, but I will manage!

4. Happiness is the best thing I have ever known.

5. My plan is simply always to enjoy life.

6. The last time I laughed really loudly was the other day over breakfast with Mi Prima, I was telling her about orphaned food (more about that later).

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to the cousins arriving, tomorrow my plans include the Big Swim and Sunday, I want to relax!

And Now Mr. McCourt?!

This summer has been filled with celebrity deaths and now Frank McCourt! I been a fan of his writing since he published Angela's Ashes in the 90's. I just read Teacher Man earlier this year and was inspired by his novel teaching style. His amazing ability to tell a story came through vividly in his novels.

Enjoy ~SJ

Things I Have Neglected

The Music Man pointed out last night that I have been a little lax with my bog posts lately. Between posting pictures of Kermit's adventures, keeping my status updates up to date on Facebook, and plugging away at the huge paper I have not gotten enough started on, my blog has fallen to the side.

Over the past few weeks The Music Man and I have been consumed with surfing and searching for new motorcycles. It all started one afternoon when I took a break from that paper I just don't seem to have any interest in writing and decided to check out Craig's List. As I am sure you all know Craig's List can be a very consuming website where there are just too many great deals to check out, cross reference, and ponder. During this particular break I noticed that there was a motorcycle just like mine for sale at a price that I thought was fair, and the best part was mine was nicer. (Notice the use of past tense here). So on a whim I decided to post my motorcycle for sale and see what sort of

luck I would have with selling it. About a year ago a tried my luck with Craig's List to sell my scooter, in less than two days it was gone. Within an hour of posting my motorcycle on Craig's List The Music Man found it and sent me an email wondering what was up. I explained that I thought I would post it and see what happened. Well, let's just say that within six hours the bike was sold!

So started the search for another motorcycle. Let's just say that I spent way too much time looking at Craig's List, Uncle Henry's online as well as the paper version of Uncle Henry's. There were reviews online to check out, and brands to compare, and the all important seat height to study (see I have kind of short legs and it is important to me to have my feet flat on the ground).

In the end I found a Yamaha V-Star 650 Classic for sale in the next town ov

er, just exactly what I

wanted and so close. One day after summer school the Music Man and I went and checked it out. The couple selling it couldn't have been nicer, the bike was everything that I was looking for, and now it sits proudly in my driveway.

After the entire process of selling my old bike and purchase of the new bike the Music Man got inspired to do the same with his bike. So again started the cycle of checking out Craig's List, and Uncle

Henry's, reading reviews, and the constant debate of which one to get. In the end he found a great Honda Magna 750.

Now we both have "grown-up" motorcycles that we will be able to ride for years to come. Yesterday we went on an adventure to pick up a screw for his bike at the dealership in Lewiston (come to find out they had to special order the screw), and then went to our favorite burrito restaurant in Farmington, Big Mouth Burrito (more to come on that later). All totaled about 122 miles using less than five gallons of gas, hours of entertainment, and a great lunch.

So sorry regular readers, I haven't been neglecting you, it is just that I have been wrapped up in the world of Craig's List and Uncle Henry's.

Enjoy ~SJ

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go, another Friday Fill In!

1. The last thing I ate was a strawberry and another strawberry (who can stop at one?)!

2. A new motorcycle is something I recently bought.

3. When it rains, it seems to never stop - especially in Maine lately.

4. The Music Man was the first person I talked to today.

5. Hugs are always welcome.

6. Sunny days and fresh strawberries provide extra comfort after too many days of rain.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing and finishing my annotations, tomorrow my plans include (not sure) and Sunday, I want to (not sure)!

"These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things"*

Oregon Trail that you can play online with the original graphics! Got to love it!

Sun all day in the forecast with no rain!

* Title inspired by Rach and her recent blog titles.

Enjoy ~SJ

Kermit At The Beach

Kermit enjoyed a little R & R over the weekend taking in the rays at the beach in Humarock.

He is even getting creative with his photography.

Enjoy ~SJ

Skywatch Friday

In Humarock the 4th of July is celebrated on the 3rd, complete with bonfires and fireworks on the beach. With all of the rain that the northeast has been having the 3rd of July festivities have been a little dampened.

Happy Skywatch!

Enjoy ~SJ

Skywatch Friday or Photo Sleuthing?

A family member has been sending out old family pictures this week and asking for people to share if they know more about the story than just who is in the picture. I haven't been able to contribute much to this conversation but have been enjoying looking at the old pictures and learning more family stories. There was one photo that I could put in my two cents on and it is below. As I am sure that I have mentioned Worthley Pond has a long and deep rooted family tradition. Many generations of the family on both sides have spent their summers on the shores of the pond. The picture is just one piece of that family tradition. The part of the story that I could tell with the below picture is where on the pond the picture was taken, it happens to be not too far from my own house. I recognized the shoreline in the old picture and went down to my dock to confirm that this old picture was taken not to far from my own house - I decided to take a picture to prove it. I sent this all back to the family member who was happy to learn more about the picture. I am going to add it to my growing collection of family pictures from the pond.

Maybe doing a little Skywatch will help solve your own family photo questions!

Enjoy ~SJ

Raft Shack!

I want one, I mean I really want one! Yesterday The Music Man and I went to the Cape and had the opportunity to do a little fishing off from a "House Boat". I'm not sure if House Boat is the correct title for this amazing aquatic find, but I want one. Basically it is a little building that sits on top of a floating raft. Inside the building you could put a futon for sleeping, a bbq, chairs, and other overnight essentials. This would be a perfect addition to the Shamrock in the summer and could accommodate more guests, I think I shall name is Clover. Now I just have to figure out how to get one built for me, and what do do with it in the off season, any ideas?

Enjoy ~SJ

And Sometimes Y And Sometimes Y

I read a small list of comics on a daily basis via the internet. They are all neatly bookmarked in one folder where I simply have to click on "open all in tabs" and my morning chuckle is ready to read - isn't tab browsing and comics on the internet two of the greatest things?

I read the below comic a few days ago on Mordent Orange and just had to share.

Here is a list of the comics that I read daily in case you want to check them out:

Mordant Orange

Pooch Cafe

Close To Home

Calvin and Hobbes

Mother Goose and Grimm

Speed Bump

Enjoy ~SJ