End of the year 2010

We had a really nice Christmas this year, some of our new friends brought us some gifts and another plowed our driveway. Such a different experience from life in the city. Jay came over for the day on Christmas, he enjoyed all of his gifts and we had a really nice dinner. We stopped in town for dessert when we took Jay back to his house in Patten. Sarah and family were on a cruise and surprised us by calling in the morning when they were docked in Key West, Kevin also got a call from his son Frank. It was overall a really good, relaxing day.

The week has been good, Kevin and I finished up a few projects around the house. Most of the week has just been hanging out together. We received a bunch of seed catalogs in the mail and have been planning our Spring garden. After I return from visiting Sarah and family in Florida, we are going to draw a map of the garden area, and will figure out exactly what to plant. One of the gardens is going to be just a vegetable garden, the other will be a kitchen garden, mostly herbs.

It is just the two of us now, which is a little strange, since the beginning of our marriage, we have had children and or grandchildren living with us. The boys have had many issues even into their adult lives that have worried us. Now that there is a bit of distance between us, we can focus on our own happiness.

As usual, I will be setting goals for the new year, not making resolutions. This year I want to develop the skills I need to raise chickens and a couple of more farm animals by taking classes through the county extension. I also am going to grow and can most of our produce. I will also be spending more time sewing and doing the crafts that I haven't had time to do in the past. Most of all I would like to have more time to develop closer relationships with my friends and extended family.

What a month!

This has been a very busy month. Jason moved into his shared house a week ago. He has been enjoying a very busy and active lifestyle. His room is nice, freshly painted with a new floor and a Red Sox border. We spent time with him Monday getting his room set up, hanging his tv on the wall, and helping him figure out how to use the remote. We speak twice daily, and he seems really happy.

We  came home to a foot and a half of water in the basement on Monday. The pump was clogged and had failed. Kevin got it started again after cleaning it and reinstalling it in the sump. He had to walk through very icy water. Many of the local roads were washed out due to flooding and some of the men who work in the woods were unable to work for a few days. We are on the main road so we were pretty much unaffected except for the basement flooding.

We bought a Christmas tree at a local stand. great bargain at $22.00. It is really pretty set up and the whole house smells of pine. We bought a new washer and dryer as well as a deep freeze with Kevin's bonus money. We have decided for Christmas this year we were just doing stocking stuffers. We have of course bought presents for Jason and the grand kids. Sarah and family are on a cruise for the holidays so they opened their gifts last night. We talked to Tristen and Claudia on the phone. They seemed excited about the cruise and really liked their gifts. Jason will be home on Christmas day, so we will have a roast beef dinner and eggnog. He asked for bread pudding as dessert. I have never made it before but I found a good recipe.

It has been a year since we first bought the house here in Amity. We have both learned so much in that time. Kevin has learned to fix things when they break. It is amazing sometimes how resourceful he has become. He has repaired the pump, ran a new outlet for the dryer, we have unstopped drains, thawed frozen pipes, and a multitude of little and not so little things that come up. We have far less money than we did in St. Louis, but we have ample time, and really don't need a lot. I have learned to cook healthy and low cost meals. It will be much better when we are raising our own meat and produce. Kevin has been substitute teaching, which helps supplement Kevin's pension. Life is good overall, we have grown closer through this experience which is a really good thing.