Updates and Stuff

Goodness, where do I begin? It has been too long in between posts, do I still have followers out there?

Let me start by saying.......YAY to the good weather that has been upon us! I personally, am delighted! Whoot.......Whoot to Summer!

I don't really have a ton to update on, mostly just stuff. We have had some fun family gatherings for Easter, we spent Easter Sunday in Brookfield with Steve's family, we had Mallory and Derek, it was nice to spend the day with them. My family celebrates Greek Orthodox Easter, which fell on the Sunday after Easter this year. Greek Easter in our family is the holiday that I think we all look most forward too. The food is wonderful, and I think most everyone in the family has their "nitch", mine is my baklava. It is always a hit, which makes me happy, its a lot of work. We brought Mallory with us this year, and she had a great time playing with my cousins, my family really enjoys her and she enjoys coming as well! I guess if I look at the big picture, she is the closest thing to a Grandchild that I will be giving my Mom, so I am happy that Mal is so welcome to our events!

Some good news to report, after 6 months without a paycheck, and daily battles with Steve's former company, we have FINALLY received payment for the services that he provided, while "not" under contract. It is a refreshing feeling to be able to get back on our feet and catch up on some bills. So.........Cheers to that!!

Steve and I on a whim last week decided that it would be fun to go to a Red Sox game, naturally, right! Who wouldn't want to do that, so I took it upon myself and went onto eBay, I found great tickets for Sunday Nights game against the Yankees! We had such an awesome time! We spent the day at Fanueil Hall and had lunch, and headed to the game that night! So much fun! With all of the financial stress these days, we decided we needed to have a bit of fun!

Not much else to report, as I mentioned above, and I think you can all agree, we are ready for summer! Memorial Day isn't too far away, and we look forward to the kick of camp season!

Steve and I leave for Florida to visit with the Martin, and enjoy some alone time at the beach in Clearwater, the 7th. We will return the 15th! I will be sure to fill my blogging community in on our vacation happenings when we return!

Enjoy this weather!

Love to All!
Kris

A really cool Giveaway to benefit Little Kayleigh Freeman!

Good Morning Everyone! I wanted to share with you all this really cool thing that is happening over on Kayleigh Freemans website, another blogger has put together a fund raiser to help the Freeman's out. I have shared a little bit of their story with you, and as Kayleigh continues to make amazing strides, and gets closer to coming home, there are more things to think about. Her parents are struggling Real Estate agents, obviously with this economy, and the constant time spent with Kayleigh, they have hit rock bottom financially. A date has been set for foreclosure on their home, and they need help, Kayleigh needs a house to come home too when she is ready to leave the hospital.

For a little history, check out Kayleighs Blog by clicking on the "Pray for Kayleigh" button on the left of the screen.

Also, here is the link to my post regarding Kayleigh, "Kayleigh Ann Freeman"


I have made my donation, anything helps. At the very least, go check it out, there are some amazing giveaways. (A week in SC, that's pretty darn cool)

http://give4kayleigh.blogspot.com/

If you do decide to make a small donation, please be sure to put my name in the notes section, there is a special prize for the person with the most referrals too!

I have made a few small donations in the past, and they are the most appreciative family, I have always been thanked with a personal email from them, I think that is pretty impressive! It's a really "feel good" thing to do!



Thank You!
Love to All!
Kristine

Stuff

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a nice weekend! I guess I am just posting with your basic updates today. Since I started blogging because I thought it would be a good way to get things that are on my mind, out there, today I am going to vent and get somethings off my chest.

First and foremost, this week brings back some interesting emotions. It was a year ago today that Steve and the kids were packing up to head to the condo at Bretton Woods for the week. My Dad, Denise and Alex were in Florida, and I was preparing for a couple of days on my own, with plans to head to the condo on Wednesday that week. I had been suffering with some leg pain for a couple of months, but was under the impression that it was a pulled muscle and would get better. As the week progressed, the pain became increasingly worse, so I decided that I would go to the ER and get it taken care of before I head up North. Well, that's when my plans really took a turn. As it turned out, I had a significant Blood Clot (DVT) along with a Pulmonary Embolism (Clots in my Lungs). With everyone away, and dealing with this on my own, I was more than a little scared. My Mom is just about an hour away, and of course was there as soon as she could be. I was admitted, for the first time ever. As you know, everything turned out OK, but it left a mark that sometimes I am not sure that I will ever be able to erase. Since then, I have suffered from anxiety, but mostly anxiety about being alone. Steve travels quite a bit for his job, and I have managed to be OK with that, but for some reason, this vacation week has me pretty nervous. I will get through it, keep myself busy and try not to think about it. But it's hard to do that.

Anyway, on top of all that, my Washer AND Dryer busted yesterday! I swear, I can not even begin to imagine going to the laundromat, and seriously, buying a new Washer/Dryer, was not something I planned for! UGH!

When we got home yesterday, I was in the driveway, walking by my car and I could hear a "hissing" noise. And dontcha know it, I had a leak in my tire, once again..........something I didn't need or plan for.

Steve and I had a really nice weekend though, which I needed. Obviously, with the anticipation of this coming week, I needed a decent weekend! Mission accomplished!

I hate to use this blog as a way to complain, but today I had too!

Have a Good Week!
Kristine

Valentine's Day

Hi Everyone,

I hope you all are well, and had a nice Valentine's Day! A couple of weeks back, Steve and I were discussing Valentine's Day and what we wanted to do. We had Mallory for the weekend, so we decided to ask her what she wanted to do that was special, her answer was simple. Here is how the conversation went:

Me: Mal, you are with us for Valentine's Day this year, if you could pick something special to do, what would it be?

Mal: Ummmm........I know, how about we go Sledding!

Me: Umm......Ya......No, I was thinking something "Special"?

Mal: Oh...........How about we just have a bunch of people over?

Me: Now we're talking, that sounds great!


And that my friends is how it all began! Nobody likes to plan a party like I do! Now that I had something to plan, I was moving full steam ahead. I decided to have a Fondue Party, for kids and Adults. The adults would enjoy a Lobster Fondue, while the kids had the obvious.......Chocolate Fondue. We didn't just eat junk though, each kid received a Valentine Bag put together by yours truly. Each bag contained, A package of Construction Paper, Stickers, Crayons, Activity Sheets like Mazes and Word Searches, and some other fun trinkets. Now mind you, while I had their best interest at heart, I also had my own. I knew if I gave them enough to do and keep them busy, the Adults could enjoy Valentine's Day too. And we really did! Everything worked out perfectly, and I think a great time was had by all!!



Love to All!
Kris

PEACEFUL RETREAT!

We moved into our apartment at the beginning of December, when it came to decorating and furniture placement, I have been relatively happy with the way everything turned out, there are a few things here and there that I have wanted to change, but nothing major.



The one room I haven't been able to get a handle on was our bedroom, it never felt right to me, the color wasn't right, even though I had picked it out and had it painted before we moved in. It just felt so thrown together. I think of a bedroom as, your personal space, it is where I go for my quiet time, or where I like to read. I need a place for me to do these things, a room that I can walk into and love, and feel relaxed. I have never had a bedroom that I have felt that way about.


So I was on a mission, I began to think about what I wanted my bedroom to be, I looked through magazines, I looked at color swatches at the paint store, I thought about themes and what I really wanted to get out of decorating this room. All I knew was that I wanted a place for me, a place to relax and a place I could wind down in.



I decided on what I like to call, a "Peaceful Retreat". Our bedroom is small, with pitched ceilings, I needed to do something to make it feel a bit bigger. Some decisions had to be made, I sold my King Size Headboard and Foot board, and we went with just a King Size frame, no headboard, no foot board. This will give us an opportunity to move things around once in a while, we had absolutely no options before, and the bed was just too big for the room. I also knew that I needed to utilize my closet space a bit, and hide some of these larger pieces of furniture, like our bureaus, in doing that, it left absolutely no room for a TV in the room either, besides, do peaceful retreats have TVs anyway? No......at least that's what I told Steve, he was good with the change. Feng Sheu says, "the bedroom is meant for two things, and neither of them require a TV", I couldn't have said it any better.



Once the room was empty we could paint, I decided to go with a Dark Brown on the walls, a Benjamin Moore color called "Taupetone", the ceiling and the pitched walls are Linen White, along with the trim and all of the doors. The two tone gave the room and instantly larger feel. I must say that for two people that haven't done a ton of painting, we did AWESOME! We had no major mishaps or spills, all in all a very successful project.



After the paint, came the fun part, DECORATING! I had decided that I wanted to go with a Blue and Brown Duvet Set, I thought the lighter Blue with the Darker Brown would be a nice contrast. Now that I had the bedding, THANKS MOM, I could begin adding personal touches and shopping for the perfect items to compliment my room. On a budget of course, Steve, Mallory and I took a trip to Kohls. One stop shopping at its best, that's just my opinion, but I love their home section. I knew that I wanted some cream colored pillar candles, that was easy. I also knew I wanted some shelves, and I wanted them to be black. When I think of a peaceful retreat, I think of candles, and lots of them, I think of a small sitting area where I can read or just relax, without feeling like I am going to bed. I didn't want to over due it on the walls, so I bought some small wall sconces that hold 3 small tea light candles. One of my favorite things that I stumbled upon was a set of "stack able tables", basically it was two tables, one shorter than the other, meant to sit underneath the other when they weren't being used, perfect! I need a new night stand anyway, and I needed a table for my sitting area. As I browsed I also found a great, tall brown and tan ceramic floor vase. All of these items were the perfect finishing touches to my new room. Now all I had to do was put it together, that was the fun part!



After torturing Steve for the weekend between painting and shopping, I sent him off to play pool for a few hours, while I did some decorating. I wanted to surprise him, for him to see that all of his hard work over the weekend would really pay off, once he saw this room. Everything came together so perfectly, I never imagined that I would be as happy as I am with this room. All of the finishing touches were complete, all I was waiting for was for Steve to see this whole plan come to fruition. When he came home, I think he was truly shocked, he really did like it.




We have been in our room for a full week now, and every night before bed, I light every candle, and I read for a bit, and can honestly say, I haven't slept better in months. Not having a TV in our room makes a huge difference to me, it was such a distraction for me.

Now the moment you have all been waiting for, taaa daaa.............my new "Peaceful Retreat".................................

I hope you all love it as much as I do. I am not a person of clutter, open wall space, and lightly filled shelves make me happy. What makes me the happiest, and I feel a real sense of accomplishment, when I think about the price to make over this room.

Paint: $45.00
Wall Sconces, set of 2: $8.99
Set of 2 Tables: $35.99
Set of 3 Shelves: $35.99
New Bedding: $69.00
Candles: $8.00
Ceramic Vase: $11.99
Pussy Willows in Vase: $4.00
New Bed Frame: $60.00

Total: $278.96


Plus, I sold my bed for $175.00 on Craigslist, and put that toward the decorating.


So Total cost of Makeover $103.96

How's that for decorating on a budget! Not bad if I say so myself!!



Love to All!
Kris

9 Lives?? Try 8!!

It's Friday, February 6th, I am home with the worst flu, I have been battling it all week. I am in bed, I am "facebooking" naturally, Steve is doing some work in his office. Pretty quiet, both cats are on the bed. Steve has opened the top part of the window in his office, see picture below:

As you can see, there is no screen on the top part of this window, pretty much, nothing but nice cool air. Feels good to humans..........feels better to cats. My cats are indoor cats, if they have ever been out, it is because they have made a great escape at one point or another, but these excursions are never long ones, I notice they are gone pretty quickly. Anyway, it wasn't long before I realized that I was alone in my room, I no longer had the company of two cats, not uncommon, they probably went down for a nibble or something. I didn't think much of it. One thing I know about my cat, Phil, is that he LOVES fresh air, he will sit in any window that is available to him. Well today, he got a little more than he bargained for when he noticed the open window. There is no ledge for him to sit on, there is no screen for him to lean on, just air!

At one point, Steve goes to the window and looks out and sees a Black Cat walking in the road, he doesn't think much of it and heads down stairs, he looks out the window at the bottom of the stairs, and yells up to me "Have you seen Phil lately", I said "He was up here a little while ago, but he isn't now"...........Well, Phil was outside, once Steve was able to get him in, everything started to come together. Neither of us had been out of the house, the door had not been opened for him to sneak out of, it all became very clear....................Holy S#%&..............did he?? No way?? How else?? Seriously, no way!! As we approached the open window, and look directly below it, this is what we saw:

When we went outside to get a closer look, this is what we saw:



Phil must have tried to jump up onto the window, that had no ledge, no screen, nothing for him to rest himself on, he clearly over shot his landing, and found himself 3 stories lower in an instant. Thank God for deep snow, and that cats always land on their feet! Phil is a big cat, he weight approx. 18 lbs., I'm sure it wasn't a smooth landing, but it was a landing.

In the end, we are just glad he is OK.

Love to All,
Kris

25 Things About Me

Hi Everyone, I received an email from a Girlfriend the other day, it was a list called "25 Things About Me", you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you, it was all these fun little tid bits of information, and I thought it looked really fun, so I decided to try it. It took me a LONG time, but I finished, see "25 Things About Me" below:


1. I have a new found addiction to eBay......I can't stop! I buy everything, but get really good deals!

2. There was a time in my life where I actually believed that I would marry Dale Earnhardt Jr and become a NASCAR wife. I would say "If I could just have coffee with him once, and chat, he would really love me"

3. I really love tanning beds, and being tan, the risks don't really scare me all that much. Silly I know!

4. I have a house plant that I named and even say hello to when I walk by him, a couple of weeks ago, I left the window that he sits in front of open, and it killed him, I am heart broken, for real!

5. I have made a promise to myself that if I am ever single again, I would move from NH to somewhere warm and start a new "warmer" life.

6. I am still addicted to the old school 90210, I watch it everyday when I get home from work, and on weekends......I love Soapnet!

7. I make really impulsive decisions, and never think things through when I should. (Hence the eBay addiction)

8. I have know forever that I am an extremely selfish person when it comes to my time, and the things that I want, to the point that I have decided that I will probably never be a Mom. Big sacrafice, but I guess I would rather know now. I feel very lucky to have so many children in my life, thanks to all of my friends!

9. After years of commuting to work on highways, I now have a fear of driving long distances on the highway, especially by myself.

10. I LOVE Dollar stores, and yard sales! I guess I like to look at junk!

11. I secretly would love to relive high school, I loved it! But I would also get better grades and take it a bit more seriously.

12. I wanted to be a vet for the longest time, and regret not going to school after I graduated, not just to be a vet, but I wish I went to school for SOMETHING.

13. I have a weird leftover phobia, I very rarely eat leftovers, even just the next day! I think it is a spoiled food phobia, especially things with meat, I am afraid I will get sick.

14. I have a really sensitive sense of smell, I can smell anything, and I think everything smells, it drives Steve crazy, I am forever thinking the clothes that come out of the dryer are musty!

15. I hate it when peoples feet touch me, it makes me crazy to think that Steve's feet could touch me while I am sleeping. I don't want feet sweating on me....that goes for all feet!!

16. I have never been a bridesmaid in a wedding........I was a flower girls when I was 5, at this point, since all of my friends are married, I bet I will never be in a wedding.

17. Not long ago, I went through what I call a "salad dressing addiction", I would buy different types of salad dressing everywhere I went, we must have had 20 bottles of dressing in our cabinet at one point. I had this thing with specialty dressings, not grocery store dressing, but specialty store dressings. I still don't know what brought that on, I have kicked that habit though.

18. I LOVE taking baths, I wish I could take one everyday! No lie, if I had one of those big soak in bath tubs, I would take a bath EVERY NIGHT before bed!

19. I am a huge fan of One Tree Hill, I own every season, other than the current one on DVD. Not only do I have them on DVD, I also DVR them every weekday at 1 & 2:00, Saturdays at 8 & 9:00 am, and Sunday at 11 and 12:00. I never actually watch the episodes I DVR, but I still need to know that it is on there.

20. I am REALLY afraid of Bats, I had a bad experience with bats in my last apartment and the sight of one brings me close to tears.

21. I am also very afraid of BEES! I have been known to lock myself in a room until someone comes home to kill the bee that has taken over the rest of the house.

22. When I was in High School..........this is embarassing...........I actually thought that the kids from the Academy were bussed in.....................from China.

23. My Sister and I are 16 years apart! I remember when she was born, thinking, "Man, when I'm 32, she'll be 16, and she is probably going to ask me to buy her and her friends beer"............yup, that's happening THIS YEAR!! (But I think I am safe on the beer buying, she's a really good girl!) I love her alot!

24. I really love the beach, and would go everyday if I could, but..............I am afraid to swim in ocean water, I think there is something lurking, just waiting for the right beach goer to attack!

25. It took me 2 hours to complete this thing, interesting what you come up with when you really think about it! Looking forward to seeing everyone else try this!


Love to All,
Kristine

These are my thoughts...................

So as everyone knows, with this economy, it is no surprise that Steve was laid off from his job. What comes with being laid off, for most sales guys, comes losing a company vehicle. That could possibly hurt more than losing the job........maybe not, but it's a close second. Losing the car was bad, but the fact that they paid for ALL of the gas, and insurance..........it really SUCKS! This brings me to my next point, we are now a one car household, and it's getting old. Steve and I are on the hunt for another vehicle. What to do? Well, we have had lots of thoughts on this. Do we buy him a "$500.00 beater" just to get him by? Do we buy something that is more expensive, but definitely more dependable? He does travel, so we need to know that he isn't going to be stranded on the NY Expressway somewhere.

Here are my thoughts, and I think he is starting to warm up to the idea. My car is an SUV, practical, this has been an excellent vehicle for me. I do not want to trade it, mostly because I owe way more than I would ever receive in trade. But in all reality, its a good car. So we have that, why not get something FUN! I found this really great Saab Convertible online, the payments are a bit higher than we would like, but..........we WERE looking at another SUV for him, which would be another gas guzzler, and we would end up spending more anyway. I am talking myself right into this....................

I say.............If you have covered all of the "practical vehicle" bases, why not have your new addition be fun? Give me one good reason!

Love to All!
Kristine

Touching Base just to say Hi

Hi Everyone,

I don't have a ton to say, or update you on! But wanted to post and say hello, since it has been a couple of weeks. I guess you could say after the last post regarding Mallory falling into the fish pond, we haven't had much come up that compares to that event. All in all, everything is well here in Exeter, all work, no play these days.

Last night I did have dinner and drinks with one of my dearest, oldest friends Kerri Nightengale, it was so great to see her and catch up. She is one of those friends that regardless of how little I see her, we seem to have a knack for picking things up where we left off, no uncomfortable silences, just lots to talk about. We have an amazing history, we met in the 2nd grade, and have just had this amazing connection. When we met in 2nd grade, we were fast friends, then we moved a town away, and my Brother and I spent a couple of years at another school, our paths crossed again in the 5th grade, we went through Jr. High together, and lived in the same neighborhood, we have great memories of that. We went to different High Schools, but remained close. I decided that I would move to the Seacoast to be with my Dad my Junior Year in High School, and Kerri and I lost touch again. After years apart, I came across her Sisters name somewhere, and decided to send a Christmas Card to her address, but attention to Kerri with a note to contact me. She did, and we met again after 8 or so years. Since then, our visits have been few and far between, but as I mentioned, it seems that we are able to pick up where we left off and have a great time together. These are the types of friends that I will cherish forever, regardless of how little or how often I see them. As I write this, I think about how lucky I am to have the friends that I have, not just friends like Kerri, who are special because of our history and our bond, but I am lucky to have the friends that I see daily, weekly and monthly. Friends are good!

We have a busy weekend ahead, Steve's cousin Jim is coming back and spending Sunday night, since the kids don't have school Monday, He and Steve, along with all of the kids, will be taking a trip to Kennebunk to see Grampy Sleeper. Steve's Grandfather will be 94 next month, and lives in Kennebunk Maine. They will go up, visit and take him out for some world famous Lobster Stew, tour the town and come home. We always have great visits with Gramps, I myself and a fan of the tours we receive when we go up there. Kennebunk is a great town, and it is always fun to see the Bush compound during our tour, that is my favorite part! I, of course, will be working that day......boo-hoo for me!

Jeez, I guess I did have something to write about. See how this whole "Blogging" thing works, it make my brain tired releasing all of these thoughts that I didn't know I had :)

Love to All!
Kristine

Fish Pond Mishap #2

So you all know about our fish pond in the back yard, and you also know about mishap #1, overflowing the pond. We have successfully had mishap #2.

Steve's Cousin Jimmy came down for a visit, he arrived Tuesday Night, we had a yummy dinner, along with a lot of yummy wine! Needless to say, on Wednesday, we were tired. As Steve, Jimmy and I lounged on the couch for the afternoon, Mallory, and Jim's girls, Sidney(9) and Hayley (12), went outside to "Check the fish Pond". No problem right, Hayley is a pretty responsible girl, we trust that at the very least, they will play outside in the snow for a bit, and maybe take a "look" at the pond, right?? Wrong? Within, oh, 5 minutes, Sidney ran into the house and yelled "MALLORY FELL INTO THE FISH POND"..........................Naturally, dumb founded, speechless, we all look at each other, "What the.........????" It wasn't long before a hysterical, sobbing, freezing cold, wet, little girl ran through the door. I know what you are thinking, this could have been pretty bad and dangerous, right? Well, I guess, but something good had to come out of this, we have now found that the fish pond is only waist deep to Mal, she is a strong swimmer, and we really didn't freak out. In fact, Mallory, after many tears, joked that if the water was warmer, she would have swam in it for a little bit. She said, exact words, "I am a fish you know, so why not be with my relatives". We call Mal a fish at least 100 times during the summer at camp, perhaps we have confused her.

Anyway, lesson number two regarding the new fish pond..................try not to fall in!

Happy New Year!
Kristine

Happenings..............

I feel like I should have a ton to talk about with the Holiday and all, I'll start by saying we had a wonderful Christmas, it was nice to have some extra time off. Our Holiday happenings started on Wednesday night, Christmas Eve. That is the night my Moms side of the family celebrates. It is the one Holiday where everyone is together, Christmas Eve has been a tradition in our family forever. We have a pretty large family, so rather than buy for each and every person, we do a Yankee Swap. For the most part, the gifts are all pretty great. This year I was really excited, I walked away with a Sonic Care toothbrush. I know it doesn't seem overly exciting to you, but I have wanted one of those for ages. My wish came true!

Onto Christmas Day, we spent the day in Brookfield with Steve's family. Another great day, where everyone is together at the same time. With large families, it is hard to make that happen. So we look forward to Christmas for that reason. Our day usually consists of lots of running around, trying to make it places by a certain time, I'm sure you all know the drill. This year was different, we didn't feel as though we were under any major time restraints. We had a fairly relaxing day, had dinner with Steve's family, and then headed to Newfields for a visit with my family that evening. We had decided this year that rather than try to get my Brother, Mary and Faye to Newfields Christmas Day, we would set aside another day to celebrate with them.

We swapped gifts and enjoyed a meal with them on Saturday, another really fun day! Faye was a riot, she is getting so big, and really beginning to show her personality.

I will say that I was a slacker when it came to picture taking, but I did manage to take a few of Faye on Saturday.

Not many people are allowed to lounge in Grampa Paul's chair, but she may be the exception.

This is the sweater I bought her for Christmas, I loved it, though judging by her expression, Did She???

I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday as well! Next up........New Years, we will be spending that at Tom and Heather's with a large group of friends. Jeff and Kerrie are in town, so it will be nice to ring in the New Year with them as well. Worry not though, we are spending the night, I am not a big fan of being on the roads, drinking or not, on New Years.

Have a Great Rest of the week!

Love to All!
Kris

How unbelievably cool is this........

......I checked Kayleighs blog this morning, and she is continuing to make improvements. Honestly, I am so happy for The Freemans to be able to report such great news! Less than a week ago, the news was not so good, it was a waiting game. And this miracle baby has surprised us all again, she continues to fight, and is making unbelievable strides! Such a wonderful thing to hear today!

We had lots of fun stuff happening this past weekend! Friday Night we celebrated Kerrie's 40th Birthday with her and her family, we were happy to see the Martins, they are home for Christmas, so we will all be looking forward to spending lots of time with them before they go home on the 5th! Here is a picture from the party!

On Saturday Night we had my company Christmas Party, we had such a great time. It's always nice to spend time with your co-workers away from the office too. We had a lot of fun, today I am thinking maybe too much fun!

I hope everyone is home safe and sound, during the snow storm here in New England today! UGH....that's two BIG storms in 2 days!

Kristine

Update on Kayleigh and more SNOW!

Kayleigh is still hanging in there, that makes me happy. Everyday that The Freemans have with their little girl at this point, is a miracle. It sounds as though she is continuing to make strides in her recovery. So lets keep our fingers crossed for her!

Looks like we will be getting more snow, tonight and Sunday! As you know, I am not a fan off this! I am not one bit happy about this latest weather development! At this point, I will try to find something positive, here is what I came up with:

We are a one car household, what is good about that you ask? Well I will tell you, since I hate the snow, and I hate driving in it, this one car situation I am in, means I DON'T HAVE TO DRIVE IN IT!!! Steve gets to drop me off AND pick me up from work EVERYDAY! He gets to pick me up at lunch, and be my taxi and drive me to Marshall's and TJ Maxx, and all those other places I call FUN!!

No matter the situation, I am trying to put a positive spin on what I can!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Kristine

Kayleigh Anne Freeman

Some of you may notice that there are a few Blogs that I follow, I check in on them everyday, they are about the journeys of other families, whether happy or sad. I read them, and I consider myself to be so extremely lucky to have a happy and healthy family. I read them and I feel truly blessed that my life is not filled with such tragedy. At the same time, I commend these families on their strength, as they are faced with challenges that I myself am not sure that I could handle with such strength and courage, these are truly remarkable families.

Yesterday I checked in on a family, The Freeman's, checking their blog is a daily routine for me, often times, multiple times a day. Their daughter Kayleigh was born premature, June 23rd, weighing only 1 lb. Here is their blog, if you want to read this amazing story, www.kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/. When I checked in yesterday, it sounded as though Kayleigh was not doing well, today her condition is continuing to worsen. At this point, they are just waiting for the inevitable. My heart is broken for them, they have watch their daughter fight and fight, through surgeries, multiple episodes of hypertension, amongst other complications, but they remained so strong, and so did Kayleigh. They have done fund raisers, radio events, sold pink "Kayleigh" bracelets, and their story was featured on their local news station. They have done all that they can to someday bring Kayleigh home, and they are now learning that it may not be possible to do so.

I remember the first time I read this families story, I was instantly hooked. This little tiny baby, was fighting and really making it. As I continued to read this story, the more I became hooked. I came home one day, and told Steve all about them, I showed him their page, I read him some posts, and I went ahead and ordered us some of the "Kayleigh Ann Freeman" bracelets. The families plan was to have everyone that bought a bracelet send in a picture of yourselves wearing them, along with a letter to Kayleigh, with hopes that she would someday read letters from people who supported her and prayed for her everyday. I never had a chance to get that picture or letter to them. I am happy to be a Kayleigh supporter, I just wish I had taken the time to take that picture and send that letter.

Needless to say, my heart is heavy today. It's stories like these that make you want to hug your family, and cherish each and every day you have with them. Sometimes we take our lives for granted, and having the opportunity to learn The Freeman's story, has made me realize just how fortunate I really am.

Love to All,
Kristine

Our Jobs and Why I think "Things Happen for a Reason"

Year after year I have commuted to work, in fact, my first "real" job was in Boston. A job I loved, and endured that commute day after day for three years, probably a job I never would have left, had I been able to handle that commute. The winter months were the worst, leave at 7:00, get home after 7:00. Not only was I in Boston, a supper fun place to be, but I was in the Jewelers building, is there anything better than that? I don't think so.

That long commute everyday, brought me to a great company that was much closer to home, and I mean MUCH closer. Less than a mile. I loved that job too, but the company ended up getting taken over by a bunch of "Schmucks" and we lost our jobs.

So much for working close to home, the new company that was opened by the "Non-Schmucks" from the other company, was in Salem. Another nice long commute, but that was OK because these were great people to work for. I was willing to make the sacrifice. We stayed in Salem for about 3 years, and the company moved to another building in..............................MERRIMACK! UGH..................could we get further away from the Seacoast. Again, good company to work for, I'll make the sacrifice. That lasted for another 3 years, and the company was purchased by a bigger group of "Schmucks", these guys were real bottom feeders. Come May of 2008, I was laid off, Oh well. It was a blessing in disguise I think.

Naturally, my goal with my job search was to find a job closer to home, I scoured the Seacoast, submitted my resume to any and every company within a 5-10 mile radius. The job market was tough, so I wasn't getting a ton of call backs. I had heard from a friend that Craigslist was a great way to find a job, so I began my Craigslist search. I submitted my resume to quite a few companies, but one really stood out from the others. This was early-mid June, I was enjoying my time off, beaching it EVERYDAY since Memorial Day, I think I may have had the best "before summer tan" ever. I was loving every minute of it. Anyway, back to reality. I submitted my resume to a company looking for "Inside Sales and Customer Service", right up my alley, just what I was looking for. I sent it, and grabbed my beach bag, I was off. When I got to my car, I had realized that I had forgotten my sunglasses, so I ran back inside, and low and behold, my phone was ringing, and it was a Hampton number. So I answered it, and it was a call in response to my resume that I had submitted. We spoke for quite some time and it was an instant match, I felt great about things right away. I still think to this day, I forgot my sunglasses for a reason that morning.

I am a firm believer in the term, "things happen for a reason", after two interviews, I was hired on with my current company, that is a wonderful, 10 minutes from home. I work with a small group of people, very laid back, and I love it. Funny thing, today we woke up to one of the worst ice storms in years, normally had I been commuting to Boston, Salem or Merrimack, chances are, I would be home in bed, there is no way I would have driven to work this morning. But not today, today I woke up and came into work. I think there must be a reason for that, is it because I am so close? Is it because I actually enjoy my job and the people I work with? Is it because even though the ENTIRE town of Hampton is without electricity, we have a freaking generator so we can still work? Our entire Industrial Park is closed, but not us, we are open. While everyone on the Seacoast is psyched to have the day off due to weather, we are working. But I know one thing, while everyone else is home, without electricity or heat, I am in my office, blogging, with an electric heater toasting up my feet!

Seriously, does it get any better than this??

For Crying Out Loud

I have failed.........please see my previous post, "It's that time of year again", regarding my Christmas Cards. So as you all know, it is officially December 9th, I never came up with an idea for my cards, and have come to the conclusion that my cards are a failure this year! There are reasons for this:

1. The picture taking event that happens towards the end of November each year, is a traumatic experience for all involved, Musky, Phil, Steve and Myself. It is never easy, and if you were a fly on our wall the evening that this all takes place, you might consider having us committed. There is lots of coercing with treats and dangling of strings to make them look somewhat interested.

2. With that being said, I am not sure that any of us can endure that type of torture, given the move that we have all been through recently. Musky still does not recognize any of us as his family, the same family he has had for his 11 years of life, therefore, I do not feel as though it would be in my best interest to stuff him into any type of costume this year. I can not put myself in that much danger so close to the Holidays.

3. If in fact I was able to get the pictures taken, and submitted to the site to be printed, I highly doubt I would get them back in time for Christmas delivery.

4. After weeks of scouring the internet, on every pet costume site out there, I seriously could not figure out what to do with them. Nothing was jumping out at me, and it's not worth the effort for something I am not into.

So.....there you have it. I am a Christmas Card failure!

Merry Christmas to All, bah-humbug!

Kristine

Eventful Weekend

Well, we had our first gathering this past weekend. The Annual Christmas Parade was in Exeter on Saturday, so we invited some friends and their families over, we are walking distance to downtown, so it worked out really well. Those that wanted to go to the parade walked over, and those that didn't, myself included, stayed back at the house and "watched the snacks". We had a really great time, the kids were great and played hard in Mal's new room. We were joined by, The Smith's, The Dixon's, The Healy's, The Gilbert's, Donna, Karen, Phyliss and Heidi.

On Sunday, we decided that it was time to get the tree, so Steve and Mallory went and picked out a beautiful tree, and Mal decorated it that afternoon. We also went to Little Critter's, one of our favorite stores, well Mal and I love it, Steve...........not so much. But he was a trooper, we went and picked out 3 goldfish, Mal picked out two Orange and White ones for her room, and I got a chubby Orange one for the kitchen, he is pretty big for our little one gallon tank, maybe he needs an upgrade to a 2 gallon tank..........he looks pretty cramped in there.

Speaking of fish, our new yard has a small Coy pond, there are about 20 big orange fish in there, and a dozen or so frogs. This is one of Mal's favorite things about this place. So on Saturday when she made her daily visit to the pond, in here pajama's and slippers, the water was REALLY low. The normal depth is about 4 feet, I would say the pond lost a little more than half of its water. It seemed that the pump was pumping the water out, but not back in, though we couldn't find any reason why this would be the case, the hose was going back into the pond. Anyway, we had to take action, before these fish were frozen. Granted they stay in all winter, the ice is broken everyday, to relieve gas pressure or something, but the stay there all winter. Steve and Mallory were outside assessing the situation (I was watching from the window upstairs, and giving direction every so often). We were just going to refill it with the hose, so they turned on the water, put in the hose, and came back upstairs, naturally, it's going to take some time for this thing to refill, right? We did our thing for a little bit, ya know, breakfast, a game of Sorry, they went to pick up the tree..........by this time, I thought for sure Steve would have thought to check the pond, maybe before leaving to get the tree..............I was wrong, I guess I should have asked the question. We have a VERY FULL pond, surrounded by an ice skating rink on the lawn now, needless to say, it didn't take as long to fill as we had thought. Whoopsies.............lesson number one on taking care of the mini fish pond...........Monitor water level when refilling pond.

Another successful weekend in the Wilber/Peckham household.

I hope everyone had a great weekend as well!
Kristine

We are finally moved

So we did it, we are finally completely moved in. Could have been the longest 3 days of my life. Between moving into the new place, and cleaning the old place, my body is physically drained. But..........it was all worth it. Our new place is excellent, we are very pleased. Things are coming along slowly, the living room is complete for the most part, the kitchen is pretty much all set, the bathroom is another story, it will be a while before we are settled in that room. Mallory's bedroom is looking pretty good as well. At this point, we are working through some of the boxes that are filled with a "mish-mosh" of items, things that don't really have a home, but I can't part with them either, so we will find a place.

Steve is away this week, so I am in the new the place alone, well I have my cats, but they hate each other right now, and can't be in the same room together. I can't for the life of me understand why these types of events cause such a raucous with these two, they have lived together for 10+ years, do they not recognize each other? Are they suddenly strangers? I am having a hard time understanding. Anyhow, it usually lasts a week or so, and then they remember each other again, and love is back in the air. In the meantime, we are awaken by screeching and screaming when they bump into each other in a dark hallway at 2:00am, when this happens, I would swear they were being mauled by a Rotweiler.

Other than getting things in order, not much else is happening.

Have a Great Week!
Kristine

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

We had an awesome day, it seems like it went by so quick. We spent the day with my Mom's side of the family, which is always a really great time. This years meal was hosted by Dave and Shelli, at their new place. They really did an outstanding job, and pulled everything off, without a hitch. Mallory and Alecia met for the first time, and hit it off really well. An excellent day was had by all, here are some pictures from our day!!

Here is Mallory on the car ride home, looks like she had a good day!

It was really great to spend some time with my neice Faye, she is getting so big, so fast.

Grammy, Aunt Judy and My Mom

I was able to get some pictures with my Grandparents, which I am realy happy about. It has been a while since I have had updated photos, I don't see them nearly enough, and it was great to spend the day with them.

I hope everyone out there had as great of a day as I did. We have a busy weekend ahead, lots of moving and unpacking and organizing to do. Lots of things to be thankful for these days!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kristine

It's That Time of Year Again!

Time where you think about your Christmas Cards...........mine are always a bit complicated, really never an easy thing, something I think about over the courses of the year. Here is why, I started a tradition with my cards many years ago with my cats, I believe it is something that friends and family look forward receiving..........."How will Kris torture her animals this year?"

I have a problem, I am stumped, I am out of ideas. I am afraid that I am going to fail at my Christmas Card duty this year...........

Here are a few samples of what I have done in years past..........

We had "Musky & Phil Clause"
(Definitely not one of "their" favorites)



We had Luau Cats...........Happy Holidays from our Bungalow to yours!
(A good time was had by all on this one, who doesn't love a Luau)



We had really handsome Argyle Sweater Cats
(Maybe "Reincats")

So there is my challenge, what now? I know the cats are wondering what I am going to do to them next, this is the time of year that they bolt into the other room when they see me coming. I always liked dress up, what's their problem.......looks fun to me!

Cheers,
Kristine