Winter '09

Already been in Seattle for 6 months. Despite some freak snow, this winter has been much more like a New England spring. I'm not missing the bitter cold one bit! Can't wait for short/t-shirt weather to come around. Life has settled into a more comfortable routine which has led me to begin dreaming of what is to come. Got excited about planning to travel the world for a year in a few years. Funny how I'm always thinking about the next adventure! Matt and I will be spending a week in Maui at the end of April. I'm ecstatic and can't wait for a relaxing beach vacation! We've just started planning more specifics and figuring out what we want to do when we're not on the beach. All I really need is a chair, book, and my kite and I'll be all set. Well, maybe a beer/cocktail too!

Work has been going great, especially as everything is more familiar. I still can't believe that I was hired for this job right out of school. I'm getting lots of practice doing counseling with adults and also learning about attachment and social-emotional health and development of children. I still laugh about my declarations early on in my MSW training that I would never work with children. I feel such joy on a daily basis as a result of being with kids. It really is such a pleasure. Makes me excited about my own, although I'm learning more and more about the challenges of parenting.

Bought a really nice used sewing machine from a woman on craigslist a couple of weeks ago. It's a Pfaff 2030, and has a bunch of different embroidery stitches. I'm still getting used to the basics, never mind all of the bells and whistles. My first project was a potholder and it came out great. I'll post a pic of it soon. I've also repaired some clothing and hemmed a couple pairs of pants. My current project is a doll-sized quilt. Exercising my creative brain is energizing! I forget what an important outlet crafting is for me.

Pics to come later.

President Barak Obama!!!

Seattle is foggy and gray today. M and I are sitting on the couch together. We stayed home from work today to see the historic Inauguration of Barak Obama. I feel the tides changing. It was a long long long, painful eight years. Thank you Obama!

The trip!!

It has been several months from my last post. The cross-country trip was spectacular! We visited so many landmarks and beautiful landscapes of the USA.

Memories:
Saying goodbye to everyone in VT and Melrose. Picking Matt up from the airport after missing him so much while he was in FL. Packing the car, trying to fit everything. So sad to leave everyone. Dinner at Brooksby with Anma and everyone else. Calvin's parting firework!;

Visiting and dinner with the Amherst gang. Warren's gin and tonics....;

Feeling the freedom of the road after leaving Amherst. Hooting and hollering with joy... knowing that our lives were changing!;

Double rainbows at Niagara Falls. Pitching the tent for the first time after ominous clouds, high winds, and a downpour; Crossing from Canada into Michigan.;

Camping at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore; huge bugs hitting and swarming the car... then they chased Matt around the site..... Deciding that the Aerobed was way too tall to fit in the tent, as our heads were super close to the top;

The beautiful campground site at Myre-Big Island State Park. Long winding walk through fields by the lake. Deer eating and sleeping... gorgeous pink sunset.... Doe and fawns across the site... bunnies everywhere... first campfire of the trip.... Racoons in the tree above our tent freaking us out during the middle of the night, mistaking them for large deer!;

More to come......

Homeless and feelin' good

The last two weeks have been a frenzy of packing, planning, and farewells. The apartment is officially Hannah's now and we're officially homeless wanderers. Or maybe a better term for it is adventurers, or perhaps vagabonds. I'm in Melrose and dropped Matt off at Logan airport for his flight to Orlando. He'll be visiting his family for a few days, amazing that it's been a three year hiatus. I'll be repacking our stuff, organizing the car, and visiting friends and family for the next few days. I keep getting chills of excitement!!

Life has been amazing the last few weeks. The cousins weekend went perfectly, despite some rain. I think everyone had a great time and there were no casualties! We packed a lot into a few days including Shelburne Farms, Ben and Jerry's Factory tour, North Beach, and Sunset Drive-In.

The fourth of July was spent on the waterfront watching the fireworks show. The funniest moment of all was the ducks dive bombing out of the air into the lake after the first fireworks were set off. They then proceeded to launch themselves several feet out of the water after subsequent booms. Hilarious! The show was beautiful, although I do miss the music choreography that Boston does. Mom was here for the 4th and then stayed for a few days. We also had a small yardsale. Dave and Sully came for a couple of days too. The apartment was packed!

Went camping the following weekend with Hannah and friends. Had a blast and the weather was gorgeous. It was a trip being back at Silver Lake again. Camping also reminded me of how much work and stuff we'll need for our cross-country journey (16 days and counting)! Also, sefore we leave on the trip Matt is spending four days in Orlando with his family!

Matt and I have a rough route we're going to follow.

View Larger Map

I'm thrilled, ecstatic, excited!!!!!

Things have been busy. I have been slowly sorting and selling a bunch of our stuff. Our time in Burlington has been dwindling and there is so much to do! Traveled to Boston Sunday night, bought a roof rack for the car, and the M had a meeting in Manchester, NH the next day. I drove up back to VT in the van with Mom. It was fun and great to catch-up with her. Yesterday we went to M's company dinner at the Icehouse. It was a good time, we as good as that type of thing can go. :-)

This weekend the cousins are coming to Burlington for a few days. I'm borrowing mom's minivan and picking everyone up Friday afternoon. It is going to be nuts! There is a lot going on in the area so there will be many choices. Hopefully they won't mind all crowding in the living room! I'm hoping that it will be nice enough to go for a swim, tubing, or a hike.

R.I.P. Nick

An amazing man with inspiring energy and heart.