Before & After

The Kitchen Before:

And the AMAZING After!

Don't you just love it?!

In Review

Admittedly, I'm a shitty blogger. I'm sorry. However, here's 2009 in review. What a year it's been...

January:

Generally speaking, I loathe January. Call it a post-Holiday slump or whatever you like, but it's always been my least favorite month, with March coming in a close second. I've always found January to be a drag of a month, but it started out on a high note, with Cait and JP becoming engaged on New Year's Day.

I think they're closer to settling on a date, which means I need to keep on track with shaping up and losing some more weight, as I'm the matron of honor, thank you very much. I'm very proud of both Cait and Jeeps and am very much looking forward to their wedding.

I watched the inauguration of President Obama with immense pride. What a great day for our country!

The saddest part of January, which made life difficult for pretty much the rest of the year, was the passing of naptime. Ella arbitrarily decided that she no longer needed to nap and, because her brother will not sleep without her in the room and despite valiant efforts on my part, naptime was pretty much a thing of the past by the end of the month. You cannot begin to imagine the depths of my envy when I hear other Moms talk about how their children still nap.

February:

The highlight of February was finally convincing J to get DVR. Oh, how we've snowballed that one! It took forever to get him to agree to it and now we're all super high-tech in the living room. Flat screen TV, HD DVR, Blu-ray player...we're goofs.


I don't know if they fully get it, but these kids are going to get away with so much in life because they are so damn cute. Here's an example of naptime being avoided and a moment of random adorableness. They were playing in a box that Mom had brought over for them.

March:

I was pretty productive in March. Getting stuff done around the house and planning for Easter and the kids' 3rd birthday party in early April. On a warm Sunday, we took an impromptu trip to the coast and introduced the kids to the ocean.


Little did we know that our lives would be turned upside down a couple of weeks later.

At the end of the month, very early on the morning of March 28th to be exact, my cell phone rang. It was my mother telling me that my brother-in-law had just committed suicide. The shock still hasn't worn off and the rest of the year has been clouded by the shadow of Mark's death. It's been truly amazing to see how my family came together - and still rallies - to support my sister, N, my nieces and nephew, but the overwhelming tragedy of it all still engulfs many of us to a great extent.

April:

April was pretty much a blur of sadness, but Liam and Ella had their first Easter egg hunt, turned 3, and we went to see a Thomas the Tank Engine show (which was a good deal of fun, I'll admit).



Mom was very ill with a terrible case of pneumonia (courtesy of my sister showing up to Easter dinner sick...but, hey!, it was her birthday and she just had to celebrate with someone - nevermind the fact that no one was in a mood to celebrate and we were all just going through the motions), but the month ended on a positive parenting note, with Ella making great strides in potty training (find the silver linings where you will, right?).

May:

After corresponding for a few months, I met my long lost sister. It was a wonderful time and we've stayed in touch since (though we've both been very busy lately and it hasn't been as often as I'd like, but we know the other is out there and that's what matters).

June:

Life settled into a new pattern, post-Mark, and I made it a priority to try and make good memories for the kids. Mom and I took them to The Butterfly Place and had a lovely visit.



We visited York's Wild Animal Kingdom and had a nice time overall, despite a major meltdown on she-child's part.

Cait and I undertook The Great Basement Cleanout and organized the unfinished side of the basement and fully cleared out the finished side so that it could be redone. I know, I know I haven't posted "after" pictures yet. Trust me when I say that it's been a fabulous improvement and that having a third floor of living space has been a hugely great thing.

July:

As part of the basement renovation, we moved the futon out of the kids' room and they moved into big kid beds! That was a big day in our house!

For the second year in a row, we ventured up North for A Day Out With Thomas (yes, it's been a big Thomas year). It was so much better than last year! The kids had a blast and really enjoyed the day. I don't know if we'll do it again in 2010, but it is a fun event.


July saw Mom turn 76 and Cait turn 23. It was a sucky wet summer for the most part and we were stuck indoors most of the time. We didn't get to use the deck much, but we did have a very nice July 5th celebration with Cait, Jeeps, Mom and "friend Katie" (as Ella calls her to distinguish her from Caitlin).

I became a pretty decent baseball fan in July and got really into the Red Sox. Am very much looking forward to next baseball season with the new TV!

August:

We finally had some real summer weather in August and actually had to make use of our air conditioners. The rain continued, though, and we didn't do much. The weekend before Labor Day, however, we visited Clark's Trading Post and had an amazing day. It was just fabulous all around and filled with memories that melt my heart.


August was significant, because I hit a major milestone.

September:

Uhm....don't have much for September. This is where I really gave up any pretense of calling myself a blogger. Life just started to get in the way in a big way. I switched gyms and that's been alright. I was happy to get out of the insanity that was the Concord Gold's, but my new gym is a bit of a downgrade. However, they have a franchise up near Mom and, on Sundays, we head up there and she watches the kids while J and I have gym dates and workout together. Then we wrap it up with a nice family dinner. Now that the insanity of the Holidays has passed, I'm most looking forward to that routine starting up again.

October:

Ah...my favorite time of year! J turned 36 and we celebrated our 13th anniversary (go, us!). We had a little escape up North, which really turned out to be almost more trouble than it was worth. But, any alone time is good time, right?

Early in the month, J and I signed a contract to completely remodel the kitchen. Little did I know that it would mean the work would be done 11 days before Christmas! All of the stress and hassle was entirely worth it, though.

On October 18th, Cait, Katie and I participated in the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk and it was great. It snowed the entire time and was freezing! On a whim, I brought the kids (who had the best seat in the house, snuggled in under wool blankets and protected by their weather shield), so I pushed 70+ pounds of kids in a double stroller in the snow and freezing rain for 5 miles. The walk meant a lot to me, as I did it to honor Mom, who will mark 5 years cancer-free next week and, really, it was a wonderful day!

At the end of the month, J's family came to visit and we had a nice time. I framed the two pictures below and gave them to both his sister and his parents for Christmas. Believe it or not, the family picture is the first one that we've taken in the 13 years that I've been a part of his family.


The kids celebrated the first Halloween that they'd remember. We went trick-or-treating for the first time, and Ella was Tinkerbell and Liam was Thomas the Tank Engine. It was a fun night. Ever since, Els has been obsessed with fairies and princesses. I'm not really a fairy and princess kind of chick, so it's been an adjustment on my part (she does, however, like to dress up in her princess clothes and appropriate her brother's tools....also, it's quite the sight to see her all dressed up and kicking ass at Wii Sports Resort swordfighting).

ETA: How could I forget that I became a Pampered Chef Consultant in October?! I'm really enjoying it! If you ever want to host a catalog show, let me know and I'd be happy to help you have a great time!

November:

I turned 34 and began noticing a significant amount of grey hairs. I really don't want to be one of those people who stresses about going grey, but it's bothering me much more than I'd like.

We ventured down to Boston to see The Imagination Movers (Smitty, how I love thee!) and it was a great show! It takes a lot for me to go into the city, but it was so worth it! The kids had a great time and I can honestly say that it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to.

After a last minute change of plans, Thanksgiving was held at my sister N's house and I think it was just the right thing for everyone. We had been planning a huge gathering at Mom's, like last year, but there was a lot of ambivalence as it was the first major Holiday since Mark died (not counting Easter, since that was only 2 weeks post-shock) and an emerging health crisis clipped plans severely at the last minute. I think, though, that hosting Thanksgiving was great for N and the kids and it ended up being a nice, though bittersweet, celebration.

November saw a lot of prep work for the kitchen remodel.

Most significantly, though, one of my nephews became very ill. They think they've found the proper diagnosis, but I think it may actually be multiple sclerosis. It's been a dreadful time for my sister, A, and my nephew has deteriorated very quickly. Once again, my family is rallying. Please pray for my sister and her family.

December:

December was a blur or planning for the kitchen remodel and keeping tabs on my sister and nephew. We stayed with Mom for 10 days and I ran back and forth to the house most days to manage the contractors. It was pure insanity! The kitchen was done on the 23rd and I spent Christmas Eve and most of Christmas morning setting the kitchen up and hosted Christmas here. It was a lovely day, though, and I finally had my "ahhhh" moment the day after Christmas when I literally stepped back and was able to take it all in. I am in love.

Hey look! It's the new TV!

Phew! That's really only a mere snapshot of the year. As I was going through the year's posts, I was struck by the little things that I'd forgotten. I am truly blessed with an amazing family, a wonderful husband and fabulous, funny and incredible children. Yes, it has been year of sorrow and grief, but there have been good times and new traditions, too. The Christmas card says it all:

Wishing you peace, joy, hope and love at Christmas and always.

If you're still out there, thank you. I'll try to do better in 2010. May the New Year bring you great happiness and health.

Bullet Updates...All Over The Place

• I was telling someone the other day that I've been busier than usual lately, but I can't really articulate what's been going on. It seems as though I get up in the morning and go go go until it's time to crawl back in bed. A large part of it has been the work to redo the basement, but that's been in a holding pattern for the past week or so. We were all set to have the carpet installed last Thursday, when the installers discovered wetness under the existing carpet and declared that they wouldn't put in the new carpet until we took care of the wetness. After much research, J caulked and sealed the areas that were wet and they held up under a pretty heavy storm the other afternoon. We're all set for the carpet to be put in on Monday. I. can't. wait. I'm eager to post before and after photos!
• Our weekends have been very full lately, too. That's certainly not helping me to feel as though time isn't slipping away. A few weeks ago, we had my nephew's graduation party. Two weekends ago, we were in northern Vermont for KL's daughters' birthday (the baby turned 1 on June 30th and S turns 4 on July 12th, so KL and her husband decided to just throw a joint party. It was a lovely time, and it was fabulous to see everyone and for the kids to play. I have to say that the 4th didn't really feel like a holiday, but we did get out and enjoy the nice weather. The fireworks display for Concord, though short, was a really good show and the kids loved it. All the way home, Ella kept saying, "that was so amazing!" It was quite sweet. On Sunday, the weather was gorgeous and we had a cookout with Mom, Cait and Jeeps and Katie. It was such a nice day to just relax on the deck with family and friends...and it was the first time we'd been able to enjoy the deck since Memorial Day! The weather, for the record, seems to have finally taken a turn for the better. All of that rain was INSANE!
  
• I've been hitting the gym a lot lately. I'm definitely back in my 6 day routine and am loving it. Once again, there's a new trainer, but this guy is GOOD. He works for the Gold's in Manchester, too and he really knows his stuff. I'm loving the new routines he's given me and have broken through my plateau.
  
• In a bizarre twist of jockiness, I've totally become a true Red Sox fan. Previously, I would only really care if they made it into the playoffs, but now I watch the games at the gym and be sure to tune into them when I'm at home (I'm even listening to games on the radio when in the car!); I'm learning about the players and am interested trying to get to a game with the kids when they're a little older; last night I was overheard to say, "too bad he couldn't get a little more heat on that" to which J replied, "who are you?"
  
• Last but not least, in anticipation of removing the futon out of the kids' room (to be used as the couch for the basement once it's finished), Liam and Ella are now in big beds! Since last Thursday, my monkeys have been tiny little fish in the ocean of their full-size beds. So far, so good, though. Ella had a couple of rough nights, during which she declared that she wanted us to throw away her new bed and that she was going to sleep on the moon (she gets points for her imagination, eh?). After receiving several compliments on their beds, though, she now professes deep love for her new bed and they've fially been getting some much needed rest.

9 Days

Since last Saturday, Cait and I have done a MASSIVE cleanout of the basement. First cleaning and organizing the unfinished side and then hauling a ton of stuff over from the finished side. This project - which I've been dreaming and talking about for years - is finally coming to fruition and I can't believe it. I've picked out and ordered the carpet, the baseboard heat was installed on Friday (previosuly there'd never been heat down there), Caitlin did the majority of the wallpaper steaming, and there are just a few boxes for J to sort through. The refrigerator is the only big thing left to move, and we'll do that once we know when the carpet's going in for certain.

Yesterday, J and I cleaned out the garage while another niece entertained Liam and Ella and it was fabulous to move more stuff over and out. Between donating items to Goodwill, the church yard sale and just generally throwing things away, we've gotten rid of a ton of stuff, and I'm in awe of how much we still have. When I first ordered the dumpster, I though for sure that we wouldn't come close to filling it. I. was. so. wrong. That puppy is FULL.

At the church yard sale yesterday, Cait scored some great pieces of furniture. I picked up another wooden bin organizer (to put in the basement once it's done, natch) for just $5 (and it's in perfect condition!). We inherited one organizer from N and the kids, and it works well upstairs. I was thrilled to get another one and for such a steal! I'm not normally a yard sale type of person, but Cait and I checked out a couple of other sales on the way home yesterday morning, and I picked up some great kids' books and a step (with risers!). Cait also found a cute pair of lamps for a great deal and I was happy that we decided to check out what else was going on in the neighborhood.

So...in a nutshell, life has been busy, busy, busy and dirty, dirty, dirty.

The Great Basement Cleanout took me on several walks down memory lane, most of which I would rather have left alone, but it's been a cathartic experience overall and it's liberating to be free of so much stuff. Of course, the entire point of redoing the basement is so that the kids have more space to play, I have a dedicated quilting area and also a decent place to workout at home, so I know there's more stuff in our future.

I'm wiped out, but so excited! I couldn't have done any of it without Cait's help and support. A GINORMOUS public thank you to her for taking time off from work to get down and dirty with me and clean our lives out. We love you, chicken head.

Brain So Full

I've been overwhelmed by everything that I want to write about that I've just been avoiding writing anything. Sorry.

Life is good here. We had a bunch of trees taken down in our backyard last week and at first I was daunted by all of the light and space. Now, though, we're in love with the backyard and can't believe we finally had the work done (it was purely because we had two dead trees that J was convinced were going to fall on the house). It's definitely been the summer of home improvement around here. In this summer alone, we've done more to our home than the previous owners did the entire time they lived here (which was for 25 years before we bought it). Now...the basement, but that's another issue in and of itself.

I'd like to try and make the Highland Games this weekend, but J doesn't think we should try it yet with the kids. Unfortunately, I think he may be right. Next year!

I loathe my chest and tricep workout. Just sayin'.

I also loathe Sarah Palin. I think McCain handed the election to Obama with that selection and I'm thrilled to see the post-Palin bump is over. Tina Fey on SNL doing Palin was great, though! Looking forward to more of that.

OK, more later when I can figure out to say what's rumbling around in my brain.

Still Alive

Life's been crazy...and that's pretty much an understatement.

The house is done and it looks amazing! J needs to do some finishing touches to some small paint jobs and I'll post before and after pictures.

Liam and Ella are amazing escape artists. Those extra tall baby gates? Pretty much useless. Liam scales them in no time flat and then opens whichever gate he's escaped over to let Ella out and they run all over the place and, therefore, get into everything. I'm learning not to stress about it all, but they're wreaking havoc for sure. We now have locks on the fridge, the stove and a new garbage can that also locks. I gave life to monkeys, I tell you.

After a very, very rocky start, I believe that the kids are back into a pattern of napping. We still have some issues with bed moving (yep, Liam moves their beds across the room) and robot touching (he likes to play with the air conditioner), but they go down relatively easily most days. Bedtime isn't a problem anymore, since the installation of a light switch cover which has the kids convinced that their bedroom light is broken (except for that one morning where Mom got the kids and turned the light on and Ella exclaimed that "Nana, how you do that? The light is broken! You fixed it, Nana!").

Good God, these furballs are the Muffins' latest obsession. I like Max, but Ruby bugs the hell out of me.

I honestly didn't think I'd be into the Olympics this year, but we've been sucked in every night. Staying up way too late.

In my most recent meeting with the trainer, I was down 22 lbs. and 13 inches since I started working with her in May. Since then, I've lost another 6 pounds and am down 43 lbs. total since joining the gym in January. Not too bad, eh? I'm rapidly entering a place where I haven't been in a long, long time and it's not as scary as I thought it would be. More on that at another time.

Life is going to continue being nuts for a bit. The weekend of the 23rd, we're heading up to Vermont for Nurse and I's civil union celebration and the weekend after that we're having J's family in to celebrate his mother's 60th birthday. I have a lot to say, though, and have plans to post more often. I know, I know...I've said it before, but I mean it this time.

Here. Gratuitous kids pics.


Would you like some flower soup?


Why wear one hat when you can wear two?

Playing the piano at Nana's is a favorite activity.

Let's Catch Up, Shall We?

• We've signed with the contractor and he'll begin work next month. I cannot adequately describe how uberexcited I am about getting this work done on the house. J and I have been going back and forth and sideways trying to settle on a color (I never knew how overwhelming it might be!) and thought we had finally decided...I was all mentally prepared to tell the contractor what we'd decided when we signed the contract, but he said he didn't need to know yet. We can let him know next month! Do you have any idea how many more options I can play with between now and then!?
• I met with the personal trainer again last week and I'm down 12 pounds since I started the routine she gave me in May. At our meeting, she added on to the original routine and will give me an entirely new one next month. TWELVE POUNDS! I've lost a couple more since last week so I'm down 30+ since I started going to the gym. It feels great. Next month, I'll have new measurements and strength testing redone, too. I've never been so damn excited to be weighed and measured in my entire life!
  
• I watched a repeat of last night's Colbert Report while I was on the treadmill at the gym today and nearly fell off more than once I was laughing so hard. I don't get to catch him as often as I used to, but damn do I love that show.
• J and I are heading to Tilton on Friday night for my 15th reunion. I'm actually looking forward to it more than I was a couple of months ago. Technically, it's a whole weekend gig, but we're only attending the Friday evening events. Saturday morning, I have plans to meet up with some ladies from my class for a late breakfast and then J and I will be heading to Vermont for Derek and Roxx's wedding. We're only making the ceremony, though, and didn't opt for the reception. I figure we'll get dinner somewhere (Keene, maybe?) on our way home.
• Speaking of being sociable this weekend, I'm on a quest to buy shoes for the wedding and something nice for Friday night. I struck out at the places I popped into tonight (I was already cursed with wide feet and they only got wider once I had the kids). I think I'm going to have to hit the mall, which I was hoping to avoid. Suck. Plus, what's up with the patterns/colors this season? Or is just fat-chick clothing that is hideous? Do they assume that we want to wear the most god-awful outfit to call even more attention to ourselves? Ugh.
• There was more, but I've lost it. More later then, eh?
  

Got It!

The estimate I was waiting for came in and I am so beyond excited! He came in $25,000 under the other estimate and that includes doing the deck!

We're still debating which color to go with and I want to decide soon so we can book the work.

Woohoo!