Author: Carol

Tell me you live in the country without telling me you live in the country.

We had special visitors for today’s storytime — a very sweet llama and alpaca! Not sure who was more enamored, the kids or the grown ups! 

One of the nicer things about being a mom to older kids is having the freedom to go out without need for a sitter! Last night we saw comedian Tom Papa at the fabulous Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie. (We saw Jon Stewart there recently as well!) I love the marquee, don’t you?

Tom put on a great show — one of the best comedy shows we have seen recently (honestly, I think he was even better than Jerry Seinfeld)! I love his humor because it also has heart. If you have the chance, definitely catch him on tour!

It’s here! I am very excited for today’s solar eclipse! Although I am not in the path of totality, here the Hudson Valley will see approximately 90% to 95% coverage, depending on location. I remember the 2017 partial eclipse and even at between 65% to 70% it was still something wonderful to behold. 

Here at our little library we have given out nearly 400 pairs of glasses and I have 100 that I am reserving for our viewing party this afternoon. I love anything that brings the community together! Hoping you get to enjoy this wonderful experience (safely of course) if you are in the path!

Well, I didn’t blog over the weekend, but here I am now! Today it is very spring-like here in the Mid-Hudson valley! It is currently 60 degrees out, which feels really nice. I’m definitely taking advantage of every single excuse to duck outside today.

My day started super early. My husband had to leave at 2 AM for a business trip and it took forever for me to fall back to sleep. He is in Mexico for the week — neither of us have been there so I’ll be curious to hear about it.

One thing about when he travels? I get so much done in the morning before work! I did a load of laundry, changed the sheets, called the vet to get our cat’s eardrops refilled, texted/emailed our plumber about an inspection he needs to set up. And on top of it all I made a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and fruit. I’ll be crashing early tonight, I am sure, though.

In other news… I got a new car last week and I am totally in love with it! It was time to trade in the 2009 Forester, which had served us well over the years. Two months after we got it, I found out I was pregnant with Laura so yes — it’s seen a lot. 

Our new car is a 2024 Hyundai Tucson. Way back in 2001, an Elantra was my very first brand-new car and it was so reliable and great that we felt it was time to go back. The 0% financing helped too, LOL! Anyway, it has been so fun learning all the cool new features and enjoying how quiet it is, especially compared to the Subaru!

We also had a fun night out on Saturday and saw Jon Stewart perform at the gorgeous Bardavon Opera House. Unfortunately there was one loud, obnoxious troll in the audience who wouldn’t stop yelling out obnoxious comments. Jon handled it with grace, of course. And then, after the troll screamed out some bizarre noise (triggered by the mere mention of Barack Obama), another guy in the audience yelled, “Will you shut up?” Jon Stewart said, “Me?” and the guy replied, “No! That moron over there!” The troll did stop after that, thankfully. I really don’t understand why you’d pay a bunch of money to see someone just to be a jerk, but… sadly this is the behavior that has been normalized. I was just happy he was put in his place and the rest of the crowd could enjoy the sold-out show. Years ago D. and I got tickets to see a live taping of “The Daily Show” when Jon Stewart was still hosting it, so it was really cool to see him again.

Other than that, it’s pretty much the same old, same old. Work is busy and people are already starting to ask if we have eclipse glasses. Sigh… the madness begins! This bingo card is (sort-of) a joke that went around during the last eclipse, but I am sure it will apply again.

Well, I suppose that’s all I have today! Hope you all have a great Monday!

I know I’ve been absent from my blog, but since Leap Day only comes around once every four years, I thought I should pop in and say hi since it seems that is about how often I blog! All kidding aside, things are great and I am going to try to “spring” ahead and try to get back to blogging at least a little more often. I’ll see you tomorrow for a check in on everything going on!

Be sure to make the most of your extra day!

Wow, wow, wow! Hard to believe we are in the last days of October! It has been a whirlwind of a month, and the last week has been especially hectic. Good! But hectic.

Last Thursday I celebrated my birthday! I always take advantage of my free birthday coffee from Starbucks, and even though my day was jam-packed, I went out nice and early for my venti Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso. It was so hot that I just couldn’t do a pumpkin spice latte (which is typically my birthday go-to).

It was a full day with a major program at the library, then a 5PM meeting, then Confirmation rehearsal followed by Adoration. Whew! I do have to say the Adoration was a lovely way to wind down from the chaos of the day. After that we went home for birthday cannoli!

Friday was Laura’s Confirmation. It seems like we have been waiting for this day for so long. We had a houseful of guests and my parents stayed overnight. My mom was her sponsor and did a wonderful job supporting her!

Check out the size of her Confirmation class! There was something like 75 kids and 5 adults. This is actually the result of the combination of our two parishes, and it is also three grades. Our new priest is lowering the Confirmation age, so this is a group of 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. It was a beautiful service and I don’t think I’ve ever attended anything in the church with this many people. At Mass on Saturday, Father said there were over 700! It was held in the gym, because neither church is big enough, LOL!

I definitely felt a sense of calm and relief this weekend after everyone went home and everything was cleaned up. 

Now things really slow down and I can start planning for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am happy that I won’t be entertaining anyone in the near future, LOL! Thanksgiving will just be our little family, and Christmas is TBD, but I think we will likely go to my mother-in-law’s for Christmas Eve and enjoy Christmas Day at home. 

Hope everything is good your little corner of the world!

The last days of summer are here, and I can’t believe how I have barely written over the last few months! It’s really just been go, go, go with all kinds of things. But the days are starting to get a little less crazy and we are adjusting to a much quieter house.

The boys are doing great in college and just enjoying every minute. Noah loves his classes (well, except for Mathematical Logic, which he finds boring — ironically, I loved Logic when I took it my freshman year)! He has also found a new band, so he’s out there playing a bunch too. Jake is in an apartment this year with some friends and one of the things he is enjoying is cooking. In fact, he’s been making his own pasta! Leave it to him to keep his roommates well-fed!

Laura’s killing her Freshman year in high school so far. Volleyball has been a little rocky, but she’s sticking with it. She left one practice in tears, and then the next day played what she felt was the best she’d ever played. This year she doesn’t have her best friend on the team, so I know that is making it a little more challenging, but I’m proud of her determination.

As for me it’s just the usual! Over Labor Day weekend our town held its annual Community Day. It was a long day (and LOUD because our booth was position right near the band), but it is always fun seeing old friends and meeting new people. Here I am with the Library Booth!

I’ve been working on some knitting and crochet projects, too. I am almost done with this adorable bear hat for a couple up the road who just had their second boy. You forget how tiny baby clothes are! What else… ugh, tomorrow I’m off for an ultrasound first thing in the morning. I usually get it right after my mammo, but this year they had to split it up. My mammo was fine, but my doctor wants me to do the U/S to be sure so that’s where you’ll find me bright and early. There’s a Starbucks next door, so maybe I’ll treat myself to a fancy coffee afterwards.

Today is cool and rainy and really has me excited for Fall! I have so many things that I’m looking forward to in the next few weeks:

• taking a trip to Lake George
• attending An Evening with Al Franken (which should be especially entertaining/enlightening with everything currently in the news)
• going on a walking tour of NYC churches and Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral 
• my birthday
• Laura’s Confirmation

I’m also hoping to squeeze in a trip to The Clark to see the Edward Munch exhibit before it’s over. Oh, I just love this time of year!

Hoping you all are doing well — I’ll definitely try to visit all my blog pals this week and catch up on things!

Wow, just like that the summer is over! The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of activity (and driving all over the state). Last week both boys headed off to college!

Jake headed off to the western part of the state, 5 hours away, for his senior year! He is finishing up a psychology program and as of right now he plans to apply to grad schools for next year. He would like to get a certification in mental health counselling to start. It’s no surprise, really. Earlier in the summer we found some old home movies when he was so very little and he always had this thoughtful, caring way about him. He is in a student apartment this year and is thrilled (yes, really!) to be cooking on his own. He really enjoys cooking and has requested that I put certain recipes in a Google Doc to share with him. Love it!

The next day we brought Noah about an hour south to start his first year at college! Noah was accepted into a unique studio composition program within his school’s music conservatory. He sees himself composing music for television, film, video games, etc. School is just a train ride into the city, so I’m sure over the next four years there will be so many opportunities to network and perform. All of the professors are working musicians, and I know he is just so excited to absorb all the knowledge he can.

I’m so curious to check in with him over the weekend and see how Week 1 went. Hopefully all is going well and he’s settled into his dorm by now.

Friday was Fair Day. Drew and I both took the day off. Laura and her friend spent hours and hours on the rides. It was so strange for me and Drew, walking around by ourselves! He indulged me as I spent way too much time in the barns talking baby talk to the pigs, goats, and sheep, LOL! 

I loved looking at the floral displays too, especially the two pictured below — pumpkins and corn fashioned out of flowers. Cute!

The fair food wasn’t all that enticing to us, so we only indulged in a few things (though the choices we made were delicious at least). We got pickles on sticks and then for dinner he got a gyro and I got this kielbasa Reuben (which was really good). I also bought a candy apple to take home and enjoy later.

I think we are good for a few years now. The last time we went was 2019 and we agreed that there did not seem to be as many vendor booths as in years past. Even for the competitions — the handicrafts and culinary and kids’ stuff — the participation just seemed low. Hopefully it’ll pick back up. In the meantime, the Sheep & Wool festival is always awesome, and I think Laura and I might try this Handcrafted Harvest Festival happening at the end of September. It’s kinds of nice living close to the county fairgrounds — all this fun stuff is less than 15 minutes away!

School here doesn’t start until next week (that’s right — we are one of those rare districts that doesn’t go back until after Labor Day), but high school sports are in full swing. Laura has volleyball practice every morning, so we are up bright and early and at the school around 7:45. Today they had a pre-season game and she was a little bummed that neither JV or Varsity won, but like I told her — the season is just getting started.

As for me, work has been keeping me busy as usual. Saturday is Community Day so I will be at the library’s table from 9-4. There are some good food trucks scheduled to be there, at least! Hopefully the time will pass quickly. Next week I’m taking some time off just to organize the house after the chaos of summer and maybe even do a little reading and crafting. Wouldn’t that be something?

Wishing you all a great long weekend!

Yes, it is a double birthday week! Yesterday we celebrated Noah, who turned 18. It was a pretty low-key day, but we all enjoyed a fun dinner of noodle bowls from his favorite Asian fusion restaurant. So delicious! A week from now he will be settled in his dorm, so I am soaking up the last few days with this guy at home.