Ethan’s Journey

I asked Ethan and Avery one time to unload the dishwasher. They both did it without a second reminder. I feel like I won the lottery.  Avery had a doctors appointment today for her sore feet. Scoliosis has not been kind to her. When she stands too long or walks a long way, she developed foot pain. We went to see the podiatrist for an opinion. He is sending us to have inserts made for her. I am hoping that offers her more comfort for her little feet. Avery and I ran errands after work. As we exited a store, it was as if Mother Earth painted us a picture in the sky, as the sun was setting. Beautiful pinks, oranges and yellows were swirled in against the growing darkness.  I am glad it is Friday. My brain needs a break from learning. Our town is having it’s annual Apple Fest. It’s a big deal around here. I am feeling guilty because I don’t want to go. There will be far too many people. Any one person could have the Covid….and share it. I just don’t want to bring home anyone’s funk.

An old dog like myself, learning new tricks is mentally exhausting. Today I made some progress on learning my rhythm and developing my pattern of how I want to organize my future days. Ethan was home today. He spent the day welding a frame for an engine. I was glad he got some sunshine therapy. He wasn’t in the direct sunlight….but could still enjoy the cheerfulness of the “shine”. Paul had many things he had to do after work. He was stressed and was still doing things. He has been a Gumby doll this week. I tried to help by putting things in perspective like….”if you don’t mow the lawn today, it will still be here when you get home on Sunday.” It seemed as if that wasn’t helpful at all and it was imperative that the lawn be mowed tonight. We put so much pressure on ourselves. Why? I am so guilty of this. But in the grand scheme of things….would it really matter if the lawn didn’t get mowed? I am glad this is his biggest challenge right now and there isn’t anything bigger. That is amazi

It was a rainy, damp, chilly-ish kind of fall day. The pears on our pear tree have been a constant battle to keep the dogs away from. Their feet are dirty when they come in. Yuck.  I told Avery that every time she makes a complaint, she has to say something positive. So, being true to my words, I was happy to note that our trees have red tips on their leaves and are really pretty. I normally don’t notice when the leaves change color until they have fallen in the yard.  My work day went well and I was able to check a few things off my “to do” list to get myself organized for work. I was pretty impressed with myself because one of the things had MANY steps. At one point I walked outside today and Ethan had a huge flame coming out of a torch. He had a smug smirk on his face. He was doing it on purpose. The flame was fairly large, it made me laugh. Boys…..he was just quietly playing with fire, outside. At least he was being smart about it. Avery and I watched the most current episode of “T

Day 2 of my new job: Jiminy is absolutely smitten with this arrangement. He cuddles all day on my lap, snuggled under my shirt. He snores, snorts and sighs. What a life. All of my new team has been bending over backwards to help me. I got to shadow a few calls today and make some templates that will help me in the future with efficiency. Templates are my jam. I feel like they expect me to be overwhelmed, but I don’t feel that way at all. Before work started today I was able to give Jiminy a bath, clip all 4 dogs toenails, run a load of dishes, 2 loads of laundry, prepare 6 stuffed peppers for dinner, straightened up the house a bit and then log into my email. This is so foreign to me. I know it will change. I am used to getting up between 4:45 and 5 am, being to work by 6 am and working until 5 or so in the evening. I would come home and be physically exhausted and hurt. I feel like a more real human being because I have a bit more energy than I did. I have been able to “sleep in” unti

Day 1: New Job I put some chili ingredients in the crockpot. What? The family is getting a warm meal tonight. 😊 My day started with a meeting. It was a great meeting. My new team mates introduced themselves and I introduced myself to them. I spent the day learning the ropes. Some of the apps I was supposed to have access to, I didn’t. So there was a little bit of a hurdle there. I was paired with one of my co-workers today who was super friendly, and helpful. My other coworker was Jiminy. My new team encourages having pets surround you at all times. These are my kind of people. Jiminy helped by napping on my lap for hours. He loved it. So did I. After work I was able to go get groceries and then go out to dinner with a good friend. When I returned home, Avery and I entertained the dogs until I went to bed, because I am more of an early bird than a night owl.

We spent last night in the haunted room again. Nothing really happened. I did smell smoke all night though. I asked Ethan and Avery if they smelled smoke as well. Neither of them did. Nor did the friends we had with us. Avery did remind me that on our tour, they had told us that our hotel had 3 fires where several people died.  Was it my subconscious or was it residual spirit energy? We packed up quickly and started our long and boring trek home. We made it safely and that is all that matters. Sitting in the car for that long is not kind to my bones. I spent my evening unpacking and firing up the lap top computer. I have a full day of training tomorrow. Woo hoo. Hope you had a wonderful weekend.

 Today was much warmer. It wasn’t nearly as bad as the evening walk the night before. We went to the satanic temple first. It wasn’t actually what you would think it to be. They are a group that uses the legal system to protect the rights of its members. Then we went to tour a few of the popular cemetery’s. The first cemetary the were from the early 1700’s. The second cemetary, the graves were from the 1600’s. Some of the stones had been weathered so much you couldn’t read them. That particular area did have some “grave misplacement” so there were unmarked graves. We then went to the witch memorial. It was done well. It had the names of those that were hanged/pressed.  We visited the wax museum which had staged wax figures dressed in clothes of that time. The clothes were cool to look at. It made me wonder how bad people smelled back then. They had to be so sweaty with so many layers on. Each little scenes had a story involving a little piece of history. The witch trials seemed mostly

 I did find I had some whacked out dreams ALL night long. One involved a family friend in a car accident with very visual imagery of the scene. The friend didn’t make it. One involved Paul falling and having head trauma and we had to go to the hospital.  Then my dreams went back to the car accident and I had to tell my mom about the death. Of course I didn’t want to upset her and struggled with how to tell her. For some reason, I kept seeing the imagery of the car accident and the person, dead. Other than that, I slept well. Ha! I was comfortable and slept like a log. I didn’t watch tv the night before, or have conversations that would trigger these dreams. We moved out of room 325 and got a different room for tonight. It isn’t “haunted”. We moved all of our things, turned in our keys to room 325 and we were getting ready to start our trip to the Witch House.  Ethan couldn’t find his sunglasses. We went back to our room 325 and asked a maid to open it up to look. She was unable to open

I told the kids to pack only the essentials. We would have a lot of luggage in the car with 5 of us traveling. I of course packed my things, Ethan’s blow up bed and bedding, just the essentials. I decided it is imperative to bring my coffee machine. We made it to Salem. Only a 7 hour drive. We walked a few blocks down to a restaurant that has had paranormal activity at it. The food was good but we had no paranormal experiences. We rented the most haunted room in Salem, room 325 at the hawthorn hotel. We tried to communicate with the spirits but they were apparently on strike. We have great company and so far everyone is getting along. Wow! 

I had some blueberry coffee today. What a terrible idea. Who combines coffee and blueberries? Ugh! Not only did it taste terrible, but it made the house smell funny and completely ruined my coffee experience this morning. Avery was picking on me and telling me I was being a little dramatic and over reacting. (I was totally being over dramatic). “If the worst part of your day is that you don’t like the taste of your coffee….then…..” she said it in a judgey voice. I highly do NOT recommend blueberry coffee.  She is right. Yesterday in the news a local man was shot in the head in his driveway. There are no more details. I bet anyone in his family would trade places with me and my poor coffee experience than to have to deal with the grief, shock and trauma of losing a family member in this way. Avery was right to make fun of me. We actually were laughing about it as I complained each time I took a sip….yep, I still drank it….more than one cup too. Ethan and I went to the lab this morning f

Today was my last day at work. They threw me a super nice lunch and some even showed up on their day off. Their coveted day off. These people work their ass off when they are at work, and to come in on their day off is a big deal.  I will miss my coworkers. They accepted me, tolerated my immature jokes and are supporting my decision (well most of them) to take on this new adventure.  I am now focusing on our trip to Salem Massachusetts. I am going with a good friend and her daughter. Ethan and Avery are coming as well. We are staying at the most haunted room in the most haunted hotel in Salem. We had to book this a year in advance. We have a couple things we are going to do and see including a walking ghost tour that tell’s the ghost stories from first hand accounts as well as educates on certain historical facts. As I was learning about the area, I found a cool restaurant to try that is supposedly haunted. I love paranormal stuff so much. I find it so interesting. As the day comes to

Tomorrow is my last day at work. I have wrapped things up and completed all the tasks I had. I can walk away knowing I accomplished many good things. It should be a fun day. My computer equipment arrives soon. I can work on setting it up and getting ready for next Monday. My new, 4 legged co-workers sniff each others butts. I will fit right in.  The back is still sore but doing alright. I am still able to sleep.  Avery has decided to participate in the Homecoming Powder Puff game. She will be a cute football player. Ethan has been either at work, in the garage or in his room. I find it like walking on eggshells when we have to communicate. I find him having a tone that I find difficult to process. It typically has negative undertones. The 7 hour car ride to Salem may be interesting. Which Ethan will we get in the car? Bubbly and wonderful Ethan or feisty and cranky Ethan?

 We made it home. It was a nice weekend away. We made plans to do it again next year, which I think is so important this day and age. Just do it. Schedule it. Then treat it like gold and don’t cancel. Avery took care of the dogs while we were away. She’s so helpful.  We got enthralled in the chores we had to do and puttered with boring tasks. Next up, our trip to Salem, MA. Ethan, Avery and I are driving with our friends to Salem to learn about the witch trials. We have booked the most haunted room in Salem to stay in. We are all excited! Two more days of my hands on, technician career. Then onto the next career. Sometimes you just have to change things when you become unhappy. You have to relay on yourself only. It is so scary. But stuff works out the way it is supposed to. I am thankful for this opportunity.

 The hotel I thought I booked has a lovely view of the river. Each room has a deck and we could watch the freighters go by. You get to smell all the good smells of nature and hear the waves wash up onto the land. Last time we stayed there it was so peaceful. The sunsets and sun rises were beautiful.  This morning I woke up. I walked outside to check the weather. My eyes fell on our view, a sturdy and well constructed funeral home. Eww. I started to laugh and couldn’t wait to point it out to Paul when he woke up. We walked around Alexandria Bay for a bit. We got our fitness in for sure. We stopped at a distillery. It was a cute little place that sold locally sourced everything. We sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine. We decided we should find someplace with food since we were drinking alcoholic beverages earlier in the day. We finally found a place to eat with tables overlooking the river. We proceeded to stay there for the next 7 hours. Our friends from around that area joined us and

We scrapped the idea of jet skiing this weekend. Paul made a good point. What fun would it be without me going. I mean, I can be a fun person to be around, ha ha. My back is revolting against me right now. I show it who’s boss when I stretch and do my exercises. I am looking forward to some time with friends. It seems we always get into some sort of shenanigans with them. We have been friends longer than we haven’t….this are the best kind of friends. I do feel like we have an eventful summer and filled it well with a nice work/life balance. We just need to keep up the momentum. As we got closer to the hotel, I looked up our reservation for the address. I realized we were staying at a different hotel than I thought. Not bad, just different. That would have been embarrassing if we had arrived at the wrong hotel. I told Paul that this is what we get for letting me be in charge of booking a hotel while sitting at a campfire after a few drinks. We don’t really care where we stay as long as

Avery and I (along with Aunt Julie in Kentucky) watched an online presentation about the 7 mistakes people make when financially planning for college. I am not mature enough to do this with Avery. As the presentation started, we wanted to make sure our peanut gallery comments were not heard by others. As Avery quiet clicked on different pictures to mute us, I yelled out “can you hear us?”. Avery was not pleased, but we found out that they could not, in fact, hear us. Our speaker, thought he was funnier than 99% of the people he was talking to did. Poor man. I imagine it is a difficult subject to engage people for an hour. Avery then spent time trying to financially map out what her college life will look like and cost. She was entertaining doing her basic coursework at a SUNY school to save on the amount of loans she will get.  As she was looking at the residence life, there were a few specialty houses on campus. The houses were themed. The residents would participate in themed activit

I was able to visit with a few friends today at different points throughout the day. It was really nice. I would give today a good star.  I also worked on getting ready for this weekend. My back was a little better today.. I just continued stretching and exercise.  Phineas continues to try to eat the pears from the pear tree. He is strictly on a leash, but he has to walk. By that area and occasionally gets one or two. This gets his stomach a little off and then his rear becomes a fountain. So that’s fun. Silly Avery!

 Today was tiring but went well. I haven’t been sleeping well. Phineas got his teeth cleaned last week and has been out of sorts every since. At night he is barking to go out….excessively. Poor old dude. I can’t even be mad at him because he is such a great dog.  I came home today and Ethan was welding.  I am glad he is finding joy. He is involved with this engine swap in his go-cart project. Everyday he plugs away at it. It’s a great learning experience. My back feels like someone inserted an ice pick in to it so that’s fun. More stretching and physical therapy is on the agenda. Story of my life. However, I try not to let it slow me down too much.

I can’t be an advocate for advocating, enough. When something isn’t right, speak up. You don’t need to be nasty, condescending, passive aggressive or anything else unfavorable. You can point out/ challenge what you need to. If it falls on deaf ears and can’t elicit change, you change. Change your presentation, change your approach, who your advocating to or change by physically leaving the situation. You always have that power. Life will work out the way it is supposed to. That is my Ted Talk for today. Avery finally got her drivers license in the mail today. My favorite part wasn’t the cuteness of her smiling face, it was the little words at the bottom….”Organ Donor”. I am proud of her.  I tweaked my back a bit this afternoon. I went to grab onto a dogs harness and the dog started aggressively scream barking and trying to bite. I move quickly and my reflexes kept me safe….those jarring movements did NOT feel good. I have been even more sore ever since…..Tylenol just doesn’t cut it, bu

 9/11. We can all remember where we were that horrible day. Take a moment at some point and remember those who have fallen at the hands of those scumbags. Remember those whose lives forever changed. Not just the 2997 humans that perished but their families as well. Today I mostly finished my new home office. I start my new job on 9/26. I am tying up loose ends at my current job so it will be an easy transition for them when I leave. My new co-worker is practicing how he is going to help me, by looking cute. We had a work weekend because the next few weekends we will be goofing off.  I have been overwhelmed by most of my co-workers wishing me well and saying they will miss me, all nice things that they don’t have to say. Makes my heart warm. I tried resting my back a little more, but motion is lotion. So I did a little meal prep instead. As things were cooking I was stretching and doing my exercises. We all watched a few episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. It’s stupid funny. No thought need

The Purple Door Soul Source is where we had our reading done.  I had Paul and Avery listen to the taped session with the medium this morning. They were both floored at how spot on the medium was with her tarot card reading. The medium described a woman as stepping forward. She showed the medium baby pictures of Ethan and the medium felt this woman knew Ethan more than Ethan knew her. She surrounded Ethan with a white and golden light which let the medium know that this lady was very close to Ethan.  This lady had been with Ethan since he had something to do with his throat. We had a few ideas of what this could mean as Ethan has a fun medical past riddled with pulmonologist appointments amongst other specialists since he was a baby. According to the medium, this lady never leaves his side.  The medium told us that the lady was connected through Paul. We knew it was Grandma Barbara. She passed away when Ethan was 7.  The medium had told us that Colie and my dad had really gotten to know

Ethan and I had an appointment with a Medium today. Of course things are vague and you can project what makes sense to you into the things being said. We started with a tarot card reading. That wa a pretty spot on for both Ethan and I. Again, the descriptions are vague and you can mold the explanations to fit your individual lifestyle. I was described as having an “open energy” or a “broadness” and I am the type of person “strangers talk to”. Which that does happen to me as well as when they do, they share a LOT of personal things. Then she moved on to the “spirits” that have passed, that were in the room. The first to come through was a heavily panting dog. The medium said that occasionally they get animals that come through. The medium was describing the dog as panting loudly and rapidly.  This is where is can get really hokey. Ethan had a few around him. The more information given, the more we could suspect who was whom. It was fun trying to guess. We asked about Colie. The medium s

I was always told to be a good person. I do believe if you do good things, it will be returned to you. Consequently if you do bad things, look out…bad energy will be returned to you.  Today I witnessed an adult receiving their terrible choices being returned to them. Watching them deal with the consequences of their actions. A front seat to a karma return.  Epic gift. School is going well for Avery. Tonight I helped her study about naming carbon chains.  At least I think that was part of it.  Phineas had his teeth cleaned today. He came home and was a mess. Panting, pacing, restlessness….back we went to get stronger medications. I gave him a drug that knocked him on his butt. He is tough. He is now sleeping comfortably, having only 

Ethan and I had our biggest verbal altercation yet tonight. It was a doozy. It started via text. Then progressed to “talking about it when he arrived home”. By the time he got home he was PISSED!  Here is the thing though, he and I are cut from the same cloth. I was also PISSED. Unfortunately neither one of us backs down easily. The verbal war of 2022 started. (I hear they may erect a statue of me with my eyebrows slanted meanly and my mouth open, to symbolize this war). He pushed me to the point of becoming fairly sharp with the tongue. I said things that were considered hurtful, and that I felt were true, and still wouldn’t rescind to this very moment. He did as well and I am sure he feels the same. Somehow….we were able to talk through it. I am not sure how it happened. Neither be of us backed down either. Again, not sure how it happened. But after a little over an hour….we resolved the issue. Our yelling subsided. We even had soft chatting. This was my gift today.

Last day of summer for Avery. She spent it organizing her room.  I popped home from work at lunch and tried to open my new contract, to read and sign. I have been trying to view it since last Thursday.  There has been a little snag in the system and then add on a holiday weekend, and here we are, almost a week later. After work, I tried again. Several emails have been exchanged over this. Finally….finally….the problem was fixed and I can view my contract. Tomorrow I will read it over with a fine tooth comb, make any necessary changes and then submit it with my start date. Tomorrow is Ethan’s appointment with the neurologist-endocrinologist. We will get the results of the MRI from a few weeks ago regarding the mass in Ethan’s head (not his brain ha ha). I know Ethan will be nervous. I am not really too worried, which is scary. That’s usually when the shit hits the fan. Tomorrow will be my last back to school pictures. 😢 I hope Avery’s senior year is 1000% better than Ethan’s….

Labor Day! A day that is to celebrate the working people. A day to remember how far we have come with our working conditions since 1894. The bigger question looming over all of us, can you wear white pants after Labor Day? Answer: you can do whatever you want, because you are an adult. You are welcome. We made it home. It was a drizzly drive. I would much rather drive home in drizzle than camp in it. We are winding down the camping season, one more trip planned.  The next few weekends will be busy though. I accomplished a lot when I got home and then eventually petered out. I found myself curled up on the couch. Ethan had a productive weekend. He welded a bigger frame on the back of his go-kart. This was done to house a larger engine. Go big or go home. Avery is amping up for school to start. I have never been the parent that wishes their kids back to school. I have enjoyed them being home.  I am trying to mentally prepare for my new working adventure while tying up loose ends with my

 Today was chilly. We had to pick up camp and close it down for the summer. We had to ride the jet ski’s to the boat launch to get them out of the lake. It was a cold ride that involved long pants, a hat and a hoodie. We got the jet skis out and ready for their next adventure this year. Because it was chilly we had a day campfire. Those are so great. We were thankful it didn’t rain. We were also thankful we had such a beautiful day yesterday, for the day we all relaxed. The dogs got a few good walks. Phineas tried to eat a fish carcus he found. Yuck! 🤮 Jiminy spent the day being extra cute and cuddley. He was swaddled in his fuzzy polka dot blanket. It was a good day.

 The last hurrah for summer camping. Summer went fast. Now on to fall. I like flannels. They are warm….I look a bit like a lumberjack, but they are comfy. Today was warm and the sun kissed up all. We went swimming off the boat. I floated around in my tube, day drinking. Not excessively, just two…. Paul and I went jet skiing. It was fun. We stopped at the little beach and sat on the back of our jetski’s with our legs dangling in the water, just chatting about life…what the next few weeks will look like, etc. The lake was still as the sun set. Paul was being goofy with his inappropriate shirt that Avery hand picked for him at the thrift store, when she was four. Paul also borrowed my cousin’s beach towel…..it was the perfect storm. Paul created some one of a kind art.

This week has been a whirlwind. On a whim, I submitted my resume for a work from home position. On Tuesday, I got an email having me schedule my 20 minute phone interview. I chose noon.  I started talking to the lady and she was so nice. She was like someone I felt like I had known forever. After an hour and some change, we ended the call. Within 4 minutes, she called me back and asked if I could meet with her boss. I then started a whirlwind of interview after that interview. 5 hours later…..I was done.  I was up against 2 other people. After about 20 minutes, I got a call with an offer. It was for more money and more vacation than what I currently have. Wow! I make my own schedule (40 hours a week). I accepted right away. I was so excited to be offered this once in a lifetime opportunity. I can finally be a “stay at home dog mom” (that actually works). This has been my life goal. As I age, I have visions of hosting a special needs/senior living center for dogs. I will miss my current

 How is it September? The cooler nights are so good for sleeping.  We have had a few good changes in the house that aren’t appropriate to share, yet. But will be coming soon. Looking forward to the holiday weekend. The last hurrah for the camping weekends of the summer. We are shifting into camping weekends in the fall.

Do you ever have one of those days that goes completely NOT as planned? I had that day today. I don’t mean it in a bad way either, I mean in a great way. Avery took her driver’s test. This is the third time. The first time, the driving evaluator was so nice, gave her helpful and coaching advice. She took the test again with making corrections as the previous evaluated had directed.  She felt really good about her test. When I got in the car after her test, I noticed a yucky smell. Mr. Driving evaluator had a stinky butt…or something that smelled like swampy rear end. I dubbed him Mr. Yukbutt. Mr. Yuckbutt told her she did a good job. When she found out her score later, after perfectly complete oh her K turn and parallel parking, he failed her for “not being in control of the vehicle”, amongst a few other things. Avery was so bummed.  We came up with some bright sides…” at least you don’t make people’s cars smell like yuckbutt.” Test number 3 today. The driving evaluator didn’t crack a