Lets Get Outta Dodge!

Hey kids!!!!  Lookey what we have here! 
It's spring break
We've been cooped up all winter
Its the first beautiful day of the season and
Daddy is out of town working all weekend. 

What we have here is the perfect opportunity to GET OUTTA DODGE!

Lets do this on the cheap....yes, fun can be done with none....money that is.

Lets drive far enough away today that the landscape, the houses, the water names are different....lets go to Albany!!!!

LETS BLOW THIS POPSICLE STAND

Get in the car you two!  I'll lock the front door, jump behind the steering wheel and make some dust on the way out of the driveway! 

I'm gonna hold the steering wheel with one hand and point my camera out the window with the other and hope I catch something. 

Lets make a pit stop in Utica....they've got a really cool train station! {and clean bathrooms}

 

Here Punk, take the camera and snap a few!

Okay now!  finish up your snacks....One more pic..... 
Cheesiest smiles, now!
ALBANY is calling!

insert soft elevator rumba music while a train roars past outside the station.....

 

ONWARD!!!!!

Camera back in hand because here comes the Beach Nu...... 
What the????!!!!

Where in the world did the Beech Nut sign go????!!!!! 

Aw geez!  I've been wanting to show you two that landmark.

What's that you say, Punk?  You wanna see more trains when we get to Albany?

Well sure!  We can do whatever we want today....not in Dodge are we?

What did you just say?  This is only the second CP engine you've ever see in your seven years on this planet?  Well shoot!

Everything looks different here....they have rivers {Mohawk and Hudson} instead of lakes.

On our way, we see that cities and towns are placed carefully at river bends and in valleys.  Every town we see has a big ol' run-down factory at its center surrounded by skinny, steep pitched, worn out houses; each one trying to crowd the others out and be the closest.  The rivers are not for recreation; they are shipping routes used for sustaining these tiny communities....how positively industrial!

There are a few small farms here and there, each with a broken down barn bordered by tiny fields...

I think the word "hardscrabble" is a good word to describe this place.

Well I know you guys are too young to notice this but mommy sure does feel entirely different in this place....I kind of like it. 

Maybe because I feel like I've stepped back in time or because the mountains make me feel a bit lonelier than our own gentle rolling landscape at home.  Albany is definitely old...but she's beautiful!

 

 

 

Well before we head back, lets make one last stop at Washington Park and get our wiggles out...

 

 

 

 

Toss some stones in the pond while you're at it

 

 

Climb that hill, soak up that good sunshine

In fact, soak it all in.  Monday is almost here.  Back to school, back to routine, back to laundry, back to early bedtimes and homework....back to Dodge.



thanks for reading
  jenny rosie



 

 



This Boy...

Our Pumpkin just turned 7 years old....

He wanted an Angry Birds birthday party

He invited his friends from school.

He was hoping for an airforce jet.  This marks the first time he didnt ask for something train related for a gift.

He got the Chronicles of Narnia instead.

He is extremely disappointed that he is 7 and has not lost any teeth yet.

This boy is our firstborn.  We've experimented on him, lost our patience with him, misunderstood him, let him down, forgiven him countless times, bear hugged him even more. 

He's the one....

....the one who unlocked the door to love in our hearts and the one who changed us from merely a couple to a bona fide family.

For six and a half years, he has generously and unknowingly shared his Halloween candy with us.

He's let us sit in the stands and spectate as he navigates his firsts.  He's fiercely independent and cautious; all at the same time.

He reminds me of a little lightbulb....partly due to the shape of his face but mostly because I can see that he sheds his very own brand of brightness wherever he goes.

Lately, when he's excited, he's been raising both fists in the air and jumping up and down....in Rocky Balboa fashion.  I have to turn my head away to conceal my chuckles.

He is the embodiment of wide-eyed innocence, un checked enthusiasm, and if I had to pick one, I would say that his go-to emotion is anxious.

I love how fuzzy his hair feels under my fingers right after I've buzzed his head with the clippers

I cant believe how often his finger and toe nails need trimming.

I marvel at the thoughts and concepts that come out of his lightbulb shaped head.

The best is when I see him in his own world.  When he's whispering to himself or just sitting under a tree in the back yard and staring up at the sky or when he gets into a book.  I can see that deep down he is content and excited about just being him.

 

I'm so grateful for that. 

Sometimes, I'm not quite sure what to do with him when he gets too silly, or when he's lost his patience with something.  This boy keeps me on my toes. 

I know the day is coming when he wont let me be in the bathroom when he's "going" or when he'll be spending increasing amounts of time at his friends' houses or when he wont let me kiss him goodbye when I drop him off at school. 

I love ending my day by sitting on the bed in his darkened, quiet room and memorizing the crescent shape of his closed eyes.  In my mind, I revisit the day with him.  I recall the times he astonished me, exasperated me, and made me so proud to be his mommy.  I run my fingers through his cropped head one last time and whisper, "Oh this boy."

thanks for reading....

 

  jenny rosie

 

 

  

When Its All Worth It

Its funny when you become a parent.....

(Not "Ha Ha" funny)

....You enter the hospital empty handed and you leave with your bundle of joy and an open can of welcome to your entirely new life.  Preparation time's up....Let's do this!  Don't bother dodging the punches that will be thrown at you in the coming years.  Its best just to allow them to hit you square.

SLAM......welcome to worry-ville.  Your address will be 102 Worst Case Scenario Lane for at least another 30 years....maybe forever.   You will NEVER EVER look at a coffee table,  crowded grocery store, or carrot the same way again.

POW.... Say goodbye to privacy, un-ending amounts of leisure time, and self-centered motivation.  Give a not-so-warm welcome to self denial and more confinement than you ever thought you could handle.

KA-BLAM....You 're responsible for feeding someone besides yourself three meals a day plus snacks and drinks.  You're also responsible for cleaning up their poop.

WHACK..... No sleep for you.... Try coping with your new reality while surviving on cat-naps.

...Oh yeah and be prepared to wash twice as many dishes and double the number of loads of laundry.

Hey, you're getting the hang of this so lets change up everything you thought you knew about your child.  RIGHT NOW!

The first years are one perpetual shock to your formerly you-centered systen.


The biggest WHAM-O, however is the key your child holds in his chubby little hand that reaches down deep into your heart and unlocks a door to an infinite, uninterrupted flood of love and devotion.  You thought you knew exactly who you were until.....him, until her, until them.

You step into a phone booth for a moment and reemerge, magically transformed into your child's super protector, booster club, teacher and character mold.  It's scary and overwhelming and yet you've never felt so honored or so up to task. 

You're going to need a ton of help from your fellow Super Friends.  Sometimes you feel like you're clinging to their invisible jets for dear life.

You and your spouse realize you are each other's wonder twin, can of spinach, and Castle Grayskull.  He is the only other being in this universe who understands exactly what the two of you have gotten yourselves into. 

But just you wait....

wait until you and your FAMILY are all snuggled under blankeys on the couch watching TV together. 

or

you and your FAMILY are around the dinner table laughing hysterically at something somebody said or did

or

you can see your whole FAMILY framed by the black plastic of your rear-view mirror

or

you are the last one to get in bed and you realize that everyone in your FAMILY is tucked in tight under the same roof.....

you are grateful

you are content

you are filled with peace and joy

you are beyond sure that it is all so worth it.



thanks for reading,

 jenny rosie

Finger Lakes Fridays

On Fridays I'll be postings pictures of one of my favorite things...the place where I live.

The Finger Lakes region is located in central NY....

most of its residents haven’t even been to New York City.  

There are eleven lakes in all, some as long as 40 miles, none wider than 3 miles across, and each boasting its own unique beauty. The region is dotted with small cities, quaint villages and tiny crossroads called hamlets.

I love that we're relatively undiscovered.  Its quiet around here....

 

 

Fall Around Here

 

We've had a pretty Amazing Autumn Around the Finger Lakes.  The leaves turned such brilliant colors, then lingered on the trees a little longer than they usually do.  The sun and cool temperatures have beckoned us outside and we've discovered new walking trails and dirt roads to explore.  Bill and I even found an afternoon to run off to a few wineries.  Fall always brings contentment back into my life as I ride the wave from the warm waters of crazy summer to the hushed shores of frigid winter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for reading

 

 

 jenny rosie



The Good and Bad of Having a {Self Employed } Contractor for a Husband

Here's my man after a hard day at work fixing some body's electrical problem or installing a hot water tank.  Note the characteristic hat, pocket with notepad and pen, end-of-the-day smile and beer.

Bill has been doing HVAC and electric for about 15 years and 8 of those years he has owned his own business.  This means that throughout our entire marriage, I've been what's know as a Contractor Widow.   I thought I'd jot down a bit of the good and bad about being married to a self employed man.


Good #1...Bill has the rare privilege of going INTO people's houses.  I'm telling you, he has seen it all.  We live in a rural community.  Did you know that people mainly live in the country to be left alone?  Why does a person want to be left alone?  Well because most of the time he or she has a very unique way of living and doesn't fit the mold of town life.  Bill comes home with a story almost every night and some of them are wicked funny!  Many of his stories end up the topic of conversation at the dinner table with friends of family.  "Honey, tell the one about the killer cat." or "Did we tell you guys the one about the horse whisperer and the case of the missing farm equipment?" 

Bill is a fantastic story teller and I DO love getting a glimpse into lives I would never otherwise be invited into.  His customers range from fascinating to sweet to ornery to cunningly frugal.  He takes it all in and appreciates each one.

Bad #1....No Hello hugs from this dude!  My husband spends his days in nasty attics and basements that are freezing in the winter and sweltering in the summer.  We don't touch each other until he has had a shower.  The plus side to this is that he voluntarily launders his own work clothes.


Good #2.... All contractors give each other nick names.   I'll never forget the first Christmas party I went to with Bill when he started up his business.  I was chatting with one of his contractor-friend's wife and she asked me how long Cliff and I had been married.  Apparently, I was the only one in town who didn't call my husband by his nick name, Cliff.  I, as a person who just loves a good alias, embraced Bill's new persona.  It was one of many he has acquired over the years including but not limited to:  Cliffy, Clifford, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Billy-bones, Billup, ED, and Edward. 


Bad #2....Service calls at 2:00am on holidays.  Bill (or should I say Cliff) has been called out to fix furnaces at all times on holidays.  This kind of stinks.  He and his phone are one and I have developed my own special groan for when that blasted thing starts ringing after 9pm or on chilly Sunday mornings when the four of us are cuddling in bed.  This is what you sign up for when you decide to be a HVAC guy/girl and it has gobbled up huge chunks of time reserved for family.  After a few years I learned to accept this but I still fantasize about things I could do to that phone....


Good #3...Bill does love being his own boss.  I have worked for terrible bosses in my life....so has Bill.....but not anymore.  He is totally free to direct, respond, initiate, create, clock in and clock out in his company's best interest.  I'm very grateful for that.

** I'm my own boss too...more on that another time.


Bad #3...When you own your own business, its like having another living breathing person in your house.  The business has been such a huge part of our lives, deciding if and when we can take a vacation, making us prosperous one year and then leaving us high and dry the next, allowing us to help friends and family and sometimes letting us be taken advantage of by them.  Can you picture  Bill and I on the couch with our two kids with the cats in the background?  Now add another rather large person on to the end of the couch.  He's a part of us in almost every way. In my mind, he's not very attractive and sometimes he can be so demanding.  Yet he's smiling at us and is proud of the way we have handled the challenges he's laid before us.  I just hope he's not covered in heating oil because that stuff stains and we do NOT have any money for a new couch!


thanks for reading!

  jenny rosie

Finger Lakes Fridays

We Celebrated, We Commemorated

Last weekend our town held its biggest celebration of the year.....Memorial Day

Waterloo, NY is our nation's official "Birthplace of Memorial Day" and the people here really make a big deal about it.

there isnt much to our little village but once a year we all gather downtown for a parade and festival in the town square.

Each year, the theme of the day is "Celebrate, Commemorate".  There's plenty of fun stuff to see and do but there's also plenty of time set aside to honor those who sacrificed so much.

Celebrate, Commemorate was a fantastic way to spend the holiday weekend.  A little something for everyone, I suspect. 

Thanks for reading,

 

  jenny rosie

Let's Dance (The Post With No Pictures)

.....because, believe me, they wouldn't be pretty. 

So I now have this 14 month old baby girl who loves to sing and dance....a girl after my own ridiculous heart.  We were listening to Earth Wind and Fire in the car the other day and, while I was watching her bob her little head in the rear view mirror, an idea boogied its way into my little head. 

Most mommies would agree, finding time to exercise when you have a little one can be quite a challenge.  Oh I could rise at 5:00am and go for a jog. That's an awful big energy expenditure with so much of the day left.  I don't have much left at the end of the day either.  This issue has really stumped me but as my wise husband would say, "you gotta just work the problem, Jenny."

So I've been trying to be more active in the every day stuff.....like
-parking farther away from the store when I run an errand
-going to my children when they need help instead of calling them to me
-pulling the kids in the wagon around the block before bedtime
-going up and down the stairs twice every time I need to go upstairs

and now my latest brilliant scheme. 

Wondering where I'm going with this? 

At lunch time, I plan on putting the little sweet pea in her seat, setting her lunch in front of her, throwing some peppy tune on the CD player and cutting loose for 5-10 while she eats.  I'm killing like 6 birds with one stone.....
-keeping up on the activity
-entertaining my daughter, she thinks I'm hilarious....you'd be laughing too.
-letting off some of the accumulated morning steam
-injecting some pep in my mood
-putting a little more silly in my life
-oh and practicing up for the next wedding we get invited to

....is that 6 birds, I lost count. 

While I bust my moves (careful to stay clear of any windows) my husband's wise words resonate though my mind.... 

...and by the way I was working the problem pretty good at lunchtime yesterday

there will be no pictures of this tom foolery for obvious reasons.









.....like it's 1999


Thanks for reading...

  jenny rosie