Saturday, August 01, 2015

The Summer So Far in Pictures

Well, I promised pictures over a week ago.  So, I figured I might as well load up a bunch of the pictures of the summer to day.  A month from yesterday Boo-boy heads back to school.  I can't believe it's August already!  Where has my summer gone?  I want it back!!  Although, at this point I'm sure Boo-boy is beginning to want to get back to the normal routine of school.  (I just wish we'd get the letter from the district with his supply list and teacher assignment and confirmation of his afternoon busing....)

We've had several adventures this summer.  We may not always get a lot of time together, but I try and make the most of it as best we can.

There was the field trip to the Crayola Factory with his class.  He asked if I could chaperon, and luckily enough, i was one of the ones who actually was chosen from all the parents that said they could.

We've had ice cream, several times.  We've had a picnic in the park.  We took Billy with us to the beach.  We went camping and to Knoebel's.  And we've had plenty of "hanging around the house" time.  So, with a month to go, I think this summer's been a pretty good one.

Two first grade classes at Crayola Factory.

A boy and his dragon.

Birthday Party time!


Zonked Cody.


Last day of school!




A visit from Lissa-love and the Kidlet.  Splashing fun in the creek and ice cream at Owow Cow!











Beach fun with Billy!


Sidewalk chalk and a picnic at the park.














Camping, hiking, swimming and Knoebel's!

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Camp The Rest

Well, I had a wonderful post I wrote last night about day two of our three-day, mid-week vacation, but the Blogger app is still saying it is saving and I can't get to it. Oh well, I'll just wite the short, short version.

Oh, there will be pictures, but they're mostly on the camera still... so stay tuned for that.

Anyhow, yesterday was a wonderful day.  Since Boo and I both tend to be hit the ground running kind of people, we actually had breakfast eaten and cleaned up a d were on a trail by 9:00. We hiked a bit, a lot of up hill climb was involved, including some beautiful running water and foliage.

After the hike we went to the park office and poked around.  Then drove into Forksville (yes,  that  is  a  real  place)and stopped at  the  general  store  and  got  ice, a fire starter and a bundle of  fire wood  yes, this Girl Scout cheated and used a commercial fire starter...

Then it was back to camp for a bit of quiet time (and I got a nap), then some lunch.  In the afternoon we went back to where the camp office is and there is a swimming area in the creek roped off.  (The creek is almost a small river at this point by my standards....)

This time we had a real, if not my most beautiful, fire and s'mores.

I will tell you this, the nights were very chilly.  And our tent was under trees and we'll shaded most of the day. It was beautiful.

So, after a snuggle to be warm this morning, we breakfasted  and broke camp in a leisurely manner.  Then it was on the road to Knobel's!

We got to the park a little after 11.  We rode several rides, including the log flume.  Boo panned for gems, which is a favorite activity of his.  We had lunch and ice cream as well in there.  We ended up leaving the park right about 3, and met Gak at Red Robin right about 6 after a stop at Cabella's  on the way home.

I'm so very glad to have had this little vacation.  We needed it.  Gak got a lot of things done he wanted to get done, and all three of us are happier for these three days.

Peace to play and may your vacations be wonderful.

Camping

Yeah, yeah, I've fallen off the blogging wagon again.  Oh well, life happens.  Actually, that is why I started this thing in the first place.  Oops....

So, for this chapter, we join Boo and me on our camping trip.  It was supposed to be the three of us, but Gak just wasn't feeling up to it.  And, in the long run I accept this.  I did  not accept it gracefully or without causing pain, but I got it through my thick skull it was ok.  I really have to stop being like this.

So, before I get to today's adventures, I think I need to write down exactly why I think I wasn't able to gracefully accept Gak wasn't up to coming.  (And his reasons are valid, really!) My mom and dad have a long standing agreement that mom can have all the adventures she wants and that dad is under no obligation to join in on them.  It worked quite well while we were growing up and beyond.  But, we only ever had 3 family vacations I can remember.  (Weekends going to Kansas City to visit family don't count....) And I think somewhere deep down, or not so deep down, I felt like I'd been denied something wonderful; that American fairy tale of the perfect family vacation, with all the built in imperfections.  I'm not really sure where this idea has come from, but there it is.  So.... I guess that even though 99.99% of the time I'm thankful Gak and I have a similar agreement... I'm still holding onto that ideal. And sometimes it makes me do ugly things and say ugly things.  I need to recognize this and nip it in the bud before I hurt anyone again.  This is my problem, not Gak's.

Now that I've got the navel gazing out of the way, on to the adventures.

Today has been filled with great things and not-so-good.
Of course, the whole leaving drama I caused falls in the not-so-good category.

I had to stop by Kat's to see if Andy found the water jug.  He didn't.

I got cash, drinks for the road, and ice at Wawa.  The trip on the Turnpike was uneventful, even if I spent the first half navel gazing while driving.  Driving is good for that...

We stopped for some lunch after getting off the Turnpike near Hickory Run.  My choice of Long John Silver's  wasn't a hit with Boo, but we saw a brown bear in the parking lot when  we got there!  I do believe this is the closest ice seen a live bear outside the zoo.

The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful, except the fact I missed an exit and added 20 minutes to the trip.  We stopped at a little road side ice cream place and restaurant, which was yummy.

Then, about 10 minutes from the camp site, the skies opened up.  It only poured for a short bit, but this wasn't the first, or probably last time I'll put a tent up while it was raining at least a little.  Thankfully even though our tent is big, it is easy to set up.  And Boo was a big help holding things.

The rain cleared up and the sky was beautiful within about an hour.  But, it was enough to soak what wood there was, because of course I didn't bring any.

We mostly hung around the site this evening.  I cooked my dinner in my propane grill.  I tried to make a fire but the MOJO wasn't with me tonight.  We still had our s'mores though, just toasted over propane.

Now a boy is "done with being outside" and is fighting off sleep in the tent.  I'm going to crochet a until it gets really sark, then I'm off to bed too.

Monday, June 01, 2015

7

Seven years... can it really be 7 years ago today that my amazing Boo-boy  was born? In one ways, it seems like only yesterday, in others, it seems like more than a lifetime ago.
So, what has changed in the last 365 days or so?
He is almost done with first grade.  This means full days instead of half days.  He is reading just about on grade level, give or take.  Math continues to be a strong suit.  He has friends and likes school.
He has lost all 4 of his front teeth, within about a 2 week time span.  He is now well over 4' tall and right around 60 lb.  I can't pick him up very well any more, but he's still my snug-a-boo.
He creates all kinds of amazing stories and shares them in great detail.  He has learned how to play on the PS3 and loves Disney Infinity.  He still loves drawing and creating and he gets to do that with Infinity.
He can sit through an entire movie.  He loved Avengers Age of Ultron and didn't even get scared at the loud parts.
Over all he's still an amazing, loving, smart, funny, and overall awesome little boy and I'm so very privileged to be his mom.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Oops

Oops, it looks like I forgot to keep writing again.

The short version? We've been stupid busy.

The slightly  longer version? Work has been crazy for me, but that was expected.  Boo has been having much less trouble.  Girl Scout cookie sales have started and Gak is trying not to get run over by me.

So, now for the more detailed telling of the  last  two weeks...

I guess I'll start with Boo-boy.  Once we got the red car fixed and schedules returned to something approaching  normal, he returned to normal.  That boy has always had a problem with change and disruption  to his schedule.  And over the holidays it was a real mess. N he has had several really good days at school and has been green or better every day.  He never has been able to say what was bugging him, but he is back to almost  always using real words and his real voice.  The sparkle is back.  So, at least for now, we've passed the problem by.  But, I will continue to watch and worry.   That is my job as mom.

On the bigger plus side with Boo, he got to spend most of Monday with Amma.  They played.  They went and saw Paddington.  They went out to lunch and went shopping.  Overall  both of them needed the day.

January  is stupid  busy at my office. All the clients have to get their tax letters done by the end of the month.  So, on top of the normal, every day kinds of wuestions, we've got end of year kinds of questions.  So, it gets a little crazy, but we're almost there, which is good.  I've also changed things up a bit, I now get to work 8:30 - 5 instead  of 9 - 5:30 on Thursday and Friday.  That just started today.  I'm happy with the idea.

Girl Scout cookie sales started last week.  This year is going like gangbusters so far.  The downside is Rhi isn't in scouts this year, so no Julie for cookie mom.  So Kat and I are splitting the duties.  And really, even though it is more work for us, I'm happy with it.  Julie did an awesome job, like I knew she would, and I trusted her completely.  But, with Kat and I doing it, we have complete control.

And like insaid, Gak is mostly just trying  to stay out of the way and not get run over.  There has been some minor drama with gaming, but not much more than usual.  Work continues to be work and the daily struggle is about the same as ever.

And on a completely different and slightly random topic.... the Little Red Honda  just passed 200,000 miles on Saturday. Yup, Little Red is still running great and has passed the 200k  mark.  Very impressed.

So, I bid you peace and manageable chaos in your life.

Monday, January 12, 2015

Funk

Yep, today was a Monday, an icy, wet, icky, grumpy  Monday.

The morning started with being woken up by Gak's  phone ringing at 5 to tell us there was a 2 hour delay.  (So thankful to have 2 cars again...)

The rest of the "getting ready for work" time was uneventful.  I made a yummy lunch of sourdough and matzoh  ball soup.  I made tea.  I made out of the door about when I wanted to due to icy roads and having to clear a car off.

The roads were nice and clear  and I got to work with no problem.

Until I went to grab my lunch bag.  And it wasn't in the car.  Then I remember I'd put it on top of the car to open it because my other hand had my tea mug.  Then I don't remember putting it in my car after opening it......
Man.... I was so looking forward to my soup!

And the Internet  tried to be flaky when I got to work.

And did I mention it was just about freezing out.  And raining....

Yeah, it was a long day and I can't find my lunch bag.  Thankfully  I have soup left for tomorrow.

Now, I'm staring at 2.5 balls of lovely chroma yarn in fingering weight and I just can't find a pattern for it.  Or come up with any ideas of my own.  And it is taunting me.
So, yeah. Grump.

But, tomorrow is another day.  And hopefully I won't (literally) lose my lunch.  And it isn't supposed to rain.  And I get to give girls cookies and get that rolling.
So, I will pike and prod at patterns a bit and then call it a night.

Peace to all and may your Mondays treat you well and your soup stay where it is supposed to be.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

A "Restful" Weekend

Well, this weekend just flew by.

Yesterday was full of all kinds of chaos, not to mention he spending of a lot of money.

Let's see if I can remember the day's events in order, shall we?

So, first off it was get everyone up and moving early so we could get the LRH to the shop by 8.  Then it was grab some breakfast (I'm still not a McD's  fan...), drop Gak  off at work and then do laundry.  After  the laundry, it was over to bowling to meet up with Kat and Steph  and figure out the logistics  for the next part of the day.  This involved standing in the bitter cold and wind while loading 105 cases of Girl Scout cookies into Kat's car.  Then over to her place for grilled cheeses and tomato soup.  Steph and Billy were going up to Allentown, so picked up our other 4 cases of GF  cookies for us.

But, the day wasn't  over yet! At 2:00 it was go pay for the repairs, run through the grocery  store  for some food and then go get Gak from work.  Oh, and Boo is still at Kat's so, after picking up the red car and swinging by the apartment we still have to get a boy.

I go thud shortly after this point.

All I can say is that I'm very glad to have 2 functioning cars again.

Today we were supposed to go to Dragonhead  for Pathfinder.  Yesterday, Gak decided we needed a down day.  Especially  with how Boo has been recently.

Here's my version of a down day...

Get sourdough started at 9:30 or so the night before.
Mix and set sourdough for the first rise at about 7:00 or so in the morning after a lousy night's  sleep.
Fix some breakfast eventually and set the bread up for its second rise.
Start some chicken soup and bake the bread.
Try and nap from 11 until noon, but not really sleep.
Finish soup, including matzoh  balls by 1.  Take a shower in there as well.
Eat soup and bread for lunch.
Get the boys dressed so we can run to town to put gas in the grey  car and pick up the groceries I forgot yesterday.  Meanwhile, Gak takes Boo to try out PS3  controllers.
Come home.
Put away groceries.
Start making the chili  for dinner.
Play games with one or both boys.
Finish dinner.
Eat dinner.
Run a bath for a boy.
Play for a bit before sending a boy to bed.
Wonder what  happened  to  my restful day off.

Oh, and I'm ignoring the fact  that tomorrow  is supposed to  have crappie weather.....

So, peace to all and may you actually  have a peaceful day.

Friday, January 09, 2015

Chaos and Exhaustion

And another week has drawn to a close. It is pretty safe to say everyone  is  fairly exhausted.

I know Boo is more exhausted than usual. It has been a hard week with him.  Tuesday he got a yellow, because  he just wasn't focusing and doing his work.  Wednesday  he remembered his lunch, but forgot his backpack, and I didn't have time to go home and get it.  Yesterday  was crazy with the leader meeting. 

Then, today I get an email from his teacher.  She is worried because Boo is having such trouble this week.  And I was going to email her this weekend to see if he was having trouble  at school because he's not been himself at home either.  He's either been super quiet and withdrawn or bouncy and obnoxious  at totally  wrong times.  I don't know what's up and eitherBoo himself doesn't  know or doesn't have words for what  is bothering him.

I'm sure the chaos in the schedule  with only  one  car isn't helping.  And maybe the chaos of the move is catching up to him.  Or maybe it is something totally  different.  I don't know.  I wish I did, because then I'd know if and how to help....

On the plus side, the LRH goes into the shop tomorrow to have all her parts put back together.  This will relieve st least a few headaches next week.

I wish we'd bitten the bullet  and done it earlier... it would have been nice to have two cars last night, especially  since it was leader meeting.  But, we made due and everyone got where they needed to be, eventually.

Wednesday, January 07, 2015

Today I am a grump.  Or maybe it is just tonight, I'm not sure exactly when the grump started but it is here.

I know you're sick of hearing it now, and I'm sick of typing it, but the red car being out of commission is such a problem and turning everything into a hassle.

So, even if my day goes well  and for all intents and purposes it did, by the time I get home I'm a cranky mess.  We all are.

Hopefully  Saturday we are resolving that though.  Yes, Andy is supposed to do it, but  he's been nothing but whiny and negative and just plain a pain about it since the problem came up.  So, now that we have the parts, we're going to take it to the shop to get it all put together.  Yes, it will cost us about $200, but not doing it will easily cost us that in another week or so between extra daycare  and gas costs.  It is costing me almost twice as much a week in gas for the Durango.

Other than tjat, life seems pretty good right now.  I really need to get back in the habit of posting a picture  in the post, but hey, I'm writing again... that is a start.

So, I wish you all peace and may your commute not make you cranky.

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

A Tale of Two Days

Well, I guess I owe to days of stories tonight... seeing as though I fell asleep last night.

So, yesterday was the story of the client who just couldn't understand what I was trying to help her with and would only talk to me.  Now, she is a nice enough woman.  And what she was trying to do isn't the easiest thing in out system... But no matter how I explained it, all it did was make it worse.  And make her feel like it was never done the same way twice.

And she called back at least twice today.... asking for me.  Thankfully  I was on the phone both times.  Also, thankfully  my team lead knows and is going to try and head this off at the pass.... I hope so.

So, overall  not too bad for a Monday.  It was cold, and work was work, but not a bad day.  Just long.

Now today.
Today is the story of headaches and snow and long commutes and yellow days.

There was/is a front moving through.  A pretty fast one, an Alberta clipper they call it.  They usually give us a few inches of snow and then a handful of bitterly cold days.  Well, yesterday was the wind and the falling temps, today was the snow, and tomorrow  is the wind and the bitter cold.  Therefore my head woke me up at about 6.  I'm still not sure if it was trying to explode or implode. It doesn't matter at this point.  All I know is made a bad drive to work even worse.  I left early and was still 20 minutes late.   And I swear people left their brains at home.  Making left turns on red.  Driving in two lanes.  Just being stupid.  I can understand slow, it was messy, but this was just stupid.

Once my headache cleared when the pain pills  kicked in, work went fairly well.  Only a few moments that made me want to pound my head on my desk.  Not bad really.

Tonight  was supposed to be scouts, but between the weather and only one car and people saying they weren't going to be there.... I canceled.

Apparently I wasn't the only one having a rough day.  Boo came home with his first yellow day m since last November.  I could tell he was tired this evening.  Apparently  during writing, he took too long and just wasn't on task.  Well, he was very upset explaining it to me.  We talked about it and he understands why he was on yellow.  Poor kiddo.  Anyhow, I'm sure tomorrow  will be better.

So, that's where things stand....

Peace to all and may your heads not explode and may they stay focused and on task.

Sunday, January 04, 2015

Grey Sunday

The word for the day was low-key.  It was a lazy morning.  Simple breakfast and a boy got to play some more Skylander.  He is enjoying it.  We may end up looking into an actual game console one of these days.

Anyhow, after lunch we decide to go up to the Portal.  The thought was to use up some of our store credit.  The only  one  to find something  they wanted was Boo.  He got a mini expansion  for Carcassonne.  It looks kinda fun.

After that it was to Kat's  house for a bit.  A nice surprise was the chance to see some family we hadn't seen in a while.  The kids had fun playing.

Everyone is back to work and school tomorrow.  While we have all the red car parts, the weather is NOT coperating.....
This too shall pass. Or kill us.

So, the story of today is a mostly calm one, and I like that.

Peace to all and may you have some relaxing days of your own,

Saturday, January 03, 2015

Heating Hijinx

Well, the story of today is going to be a bit longer than yesterday's....

So, this starts out like a fairly normal Saturday.  Except I actually have to pry myself out of bed.  And the apartment is cold, and it's not just me.  Gak actually said he turned up the heat.

Then I look at the thermostat.... it's somewhere around 63 degrees, and the thermostat is usually set closer to 70 and it had been bumped up above that.  Hmmm....

Anyhow, with being down to one car, we pile all three of us and the laundry into the Durango and drop Daddy off at work, and the boy and I precede to the laundromat.  The laundry gets done, and fairly quickly at that.  Then the boy-o and I head home.  On the way home we decide I'll make an early lunch of mac'n'cheese and we'd eat in front of a movie.  (I was feeling tired and cranky, and the boy doesn't get much TV time and was being quiet and reserved himself....)

Oh, and it had started flurrying and was supposed to get worse throughout the day.... possibly sleet, possibly rain, but definitely icky.

Well, I bring up the laundry that I always hang to dry and open the door to the apartment and.... it's still around 60 degrees.  And we'd bumped the thermostat up to 80 before we left about 2 hours earlier.  /sigh.

So... I text the landlady and start getting lunch ready.  Movie time snuggled under blankets sounded really good at that point.  While in the middle of making lunch I get a text from her saying that her husband would be over around 1 to bleed the radiators (I really do love radiant heat!) and to try turning up the thermostat.  After laughing at the message on my phone, I let her know I had.... at 8:30 and here it was 10:45.  (I told you it was an early lunch... neither of us had breakfast....)

So, the boy-o and I settle into our spots in the living room (the boy-o loves the big red beanbag chair we got him for Christmas) with our lunch and watch Phineas and Ferb's Star Wars.  After that, I decide to put in the actual Star Wars, Episode IV in.  Boo wanders off before they even left Tattoine (sorry, I can't spell...) and grabs his tablet.

In the meantime, our landlord knocks on our door at about 12:30 and says that it's not just us, but the whole building and that we're the only ones who called them.  And that there was a guy on the way because it wasn't something simple like the pilot light.  (I knew we still had gas to the building, I had hot water for dishes.... and my hot water bottle.  I love that thing!)

So, we stayed curled up with the blankets and the movies and tablets until it was time to pick up a Daddy-bear.  At one point it felt like the radiators were getting warm, but it was only temporary, as I was informed by the landlord shortly before we headed out to pick up Gak.  (The heater guy's truck was still in the lot when we left...)

Anyhow, figuring we might have a cold apartment to go home to, we decide to go to Target so Boo-boy could spend more of his Christmas money and then decided we might as well use the Red Robin gift card Nana sent us for dinner.  We also did a few other errands.  Before coming home I checked my phone and I had a message from about about 3:30 saying the heat was fixed.  Yay!

Well, we get home about 5:40.  And, the apartment was at about 60 degrees and the thermostat was at 80.  Needless to say, another text was sent to the landlords.

Anyhow, miraculously around 6:30 or 6:45 the radiators start warming up.  And now, at almost 9:00 the apartment is back to a normal temperature and I've lowered the thermostat to it's normal position.

So, over all it was a do-nothing day, but it wasn't a fun one.  I like feeling my fingers, toes and nose.  I did get a good bit of work done on my newest hat while watching movies.

Here's hoping tomorrow will be both low-key and warm.  The weather is supposed to be warm, if wet.  (And then back to cold again on Tuesday, what the heck?!?)

Anyhow, I'm off to bed.

Friday, January 02, 2015

Not Much

Hmm.  So if today was another blank page, what would have been written on it?

In many ways it was just another work day.  It was about average  for a friday, which is a little surprising, but not really since it is end of year.  I really do enjoy my work though.

Right now life is a bit challenging, if only because we are back down to one car.  You see, the red car's exhaust decided to fall apart before Christmas.  We have the parts niw, but getting them, the car, and the people in the same place at the same time and the weather cooperating is a challenge.  I'm not looking forward to Tuesday with only one car.... and Girl Scouts.
Oh well, we will burn that bridge when we get there....

Other than that, not much excitement  today.  I guess I didn't color in all the white space today, just a few pencil doodles.  That is how most days go I guess.

Enough  rambling; bed time now.

Thursday, January 01, 2015

New Year, New Start

I know, I know, it's been months since I've posted here.  Oops.  I'll summarize all the things that have gone on recently in a bit.

Anyhow, I saw something, well, several somethings actually, posted the other day about how the new year is a new book with 365 blank pages.  And well, that reminded me I really need to try and write at least a few of those pages down.... so, my goal is to try and remember to write here more.

So, what's been going on you ask?  Well, a heck of a lot, most of it trying.

Months ago I posted about the rent hike and moving.  That's been most of our adventure the last several months.

Anyhow, the good news of the move is that we're able to keep Boo in his current school through the end of the year.  They wanted to move him, but we calmly explained the economics of why we were moving and how making him change schools would more than negate the savings we'd get through moving.  So, they agreed that it would cause a financial hardship and let him stay, without transportation, but that's fine, we've got it covered anyhow.

The bad?  Oh, I'm not sure I can write that coherently.  In short, our new landlords are more or less slumlords who couldn't care less about their properties or their tenants unless they're not getting paid.

There've been some awesome lines from the landlord.... like "It's not as clean as I usually like to turn it over to new tenants.... but the carpets came up much nicer than I expected.".  We also got "do you want me to leave the paint for the trim?" when the walls (blue in one case) have very obvious places they were patched, one about the 12" in diameter, and never painted and the walls were filthy.  Or, how about "Will it be acceptable if I only get 3 of the burners working?"  I think that one takes the cake and says it all.

When people ask me about our new place, I usually say that it would be a great apartment if it had been kept up.  And it would.  Other than the fact that the boy literally has a bed room, with nothing but his bed, a stool for his clock, his clothes hamper and a tiny bed-side table.  There are two little built-in cubies that he's using for clothes storage.  That's supposed to be an "office" (that only has one outlet?).  The "second bedroom" is not much more than a glorified hallway with some funky angles at the one end and a tiny triangle of an excuse for a closet, that leads between the living room and the actual bedroom.  (And why is bedroom one word, but living room two??)  The kitchen would be nice if I could actually find another storage unit with drawers in it for the rest of my kitchen stuff that doesn't have a home.  (There are four tiny drawers in the kitchen, two of which are broken...)  And going from two bathrooms down to one and losing the dishwasher aren't exactly highlights either.

But, that's all the negative stuff.  We're making the best of it and we're not here forever.  Of course the general grumpiness has kept me from actually attempting to finish the unpacking.  I haven't even bothered with the bookcases.  The boxes of books are just on or in front of them....

But, there have been good things the last several months.  Boo's reading is coming along quite well and his math is exploding.  He's really enjoying school and his teacher just adores having him.  (Yeah, he's a cutie and sweet, and listens and works hard.... and she's young and cute.....)
I still really love my job.  I'm not a huge fan of the commute, but it could be so much worse.  The other people on my team are all great to work with, our manager actually cares and gives us real targets to aim for and the rest of management is all very supportive as well.  Oh, and just the overall attitude of the company is outstanding.  It may not have felt like it at the time, or throughout much of 2013 or the beginning of 2014, but getting laid off really was a blessing in disguise.  It forced me to move on and to realize exactly how poisonous my old workplace was and how wonderful it can be.  Sure, it's not perfect and I don't love everyone I work with, but I can work with them and get along in a professional manner and life is good.  (I don't expect to like or get along with everyone.... but I can play nice.)


So,  while 2014 was a bit of a roller coaster, I do believe there was more good than bad.  I look forward to an even better 2015 and will do my best to see the good in all the challenges.

I'll leave you with some random photos from the past several months, not really in any particular order or importance.