Have I whined enough? Everyone knows that I really really really want to be a SAHM. Even if that means me having a part time evening job. I just can't jump into it though. I need to have an action plan. Realistically I just can't quit my job because if we can't pay the bills that means I'll have to get a job again and we'll be back to square one. I think I'll go to the bookstore this weekend and see if they have any books on this subject. If anyone has any suggestions on books or websites I'd be grateful.

Kaelyn's orientation went well. We got to meet the teacher, Mrs. N., who was very pleasant and soft spoken. Most of the other kids were there also. I felt a little out of place because so many of the moms and kids seemed to know each other. I later learned that this is the 2nd year of preschool for some of the kids. Kaelyn will automatically be given a place in the class next year and we won't have to go into the lottery again. Which is nice to know. Kaelyn played while I got to talk to the teacher. I informed Mrs. N that Kaelyn is often shy but she just needs a little time to adjust and feel comfortable with the others. While we were there K preferred to play by herself. I mentioned to Mrs. N that this is also something that we need to work on. She'd rather play by herself so that she doesn't have to share. Mrs. N said that in the first 3-4 weeks they don't allow the kids much playtime by themselves. They spend alot of time as a group, talking and learning about each other, reading stories and playing as a group. I feel better about this because I was afraid that Kaelyn would always seem to find a place by herself so that she didn't have to interact or share with the others. I have many forms to fill out this weekend. At the end of the orientation Kaelyn didn't want to leave, which I thought was a good sign.

Until last night, when we were lying in bed she said that she was excited about school but she didn't want me to leave her there. I told that Mrs. N would be there and dad would be there to pick her up at 2:30pm. She cried and wimpered a little. She asked if they had a phone just in case she needed to call me. There is a phone is the classroom and I told her that if she to come home Mrs. N. could call me and I'd pick her up. She's made a compromise, she'll go to preschool for 2 weeks instead of 3 weeks. That sounds good to me. :-) So I agreed.

It didn't help that I felt like crying last night too. In the packet of papers that I need to fill out there was one asking for volunteers in the classroom. Because the program is run on a state grant they rely on the parents, for help in the classroom and supplies too. We pay a small fee, which works out to be about $6.00 a day, for her to attend. There is a teacher and her assistant but they like to have a parent or two with them when they go to the library so that all the kids can be assisted. They also have a computer in the classroom which they like to have a parent volunteer help with. Some parents volunteer to read stories to the class. I'm very happy that they allow the parents to be so involved with the classroom. The sucky part is that I'll be working and not able to volunteer. It bothers me alot.

I haven't seen Chad much in the past two days, he's been working. He's very supportive and if I can find a part time evening job I think that he'll agree that its a good idea. I just have to do some number crunching and figure out if its possible. Which I think it may be. Wish me luck.

My grandparents have cared for Kaelyn since she was an infant. Everything was fine and dandy until they started showing favoritism towards her and ignored the other grandchildren or treated them poorly. Needless to say, there are many hurt feelings (including my sister) because of the behavior of my grandparents, primarily Pepere. I've felt in the middle for quite some time. I've even talked to Memere about it but nothing has changed. My father's sister also spends much of her time at my gparents house. She's also chosen K as her favorite. She is constantly buying things for her and picking her up to carry her all the time. Her and I had it out because I don't allow her to care for Kaelyn by herself. This woman is on disability because of a bad back, she takes mega doses of pain killers and drinks and smokes pot on top of it. I'm sorry but she isn't the person I want caring for my child. This is just a small bit of info on the situation that has gotten out of control. This is another one of the major reasons K needs to be in school and I need to become a SAHM.

Anyway, this morning when I dropped K off, Mem asked where the school was. I told her which one and then I told her that I didn't want anyone coming to bring K to school except for Chad and I. It's a big enough adjustment for her without a freaking circus of relatives to say good-bye to. She said she understood. I'm glad that I got my point across in a nice way. I could see K saying that she didn't want us to leave and my grandparents and the evil "Aunty" telling her that she didn't have to go into her class.

Kaelyn and I have orientation tomorrow at her pre-school. I'm sure that tomorrow she'll be fine since I'll be with her but I'm wondering what next week will be like. She's incredibly shy and attached to both Chad and I. I'm nervous just thinking about it. She cried and whined all day today, I really think that she's having a little bit of anxiety about school. I've heard wonderful things about the two pre-school teachers. The pre-school is part of the public school system and her cousin is in 1st grade at the same school. She'll only be there 2 1/2 hours a day. In my heart I know that this will be very good for her. In the current situation with my grandparents, she doesn't need to share because she doesn't see many other kids while they care for her.

Something happened last night and I cannot stop thinking about it. Around 11pm I head what sounded like a diesel truck outside. When I looked out my bedroom I saw an ambulance in front of my next door neighbors house. It hadn't flashed it lights or siren. I don't know these particular neighbors all that well, they just moved her this past spring. I do know that they have a 7yr old daughter and a 3 month old daughter. The mother very calmly, in her nightgown and housecoat, walked the baby, wrapped in a blanket, to the ambulance. She got into the back of the ambulance with the paramedics. They were in there for at least 20-25 mins. The paramedics got out a few times to get supplies from the supply doors on the outside but that is all I saw. Then, with the same calmness, the mom got out of the ambulance, said "thank you" to the paramedics and they were on their way. I can't help wondering what was wrong with the baby.

Looking back on things, we've never seen the baby. She was born in May and I've only seen the mom outside once since she's been born. Also, before the baby was born the 7 year old spent alot of time playing in the yard and the mom would sit outside and read her book. None of this has happened since May, when the baby was born. I can't help but think that something may be wrong with the baby and the ambulance visit was routine. I wish that I felt comfortable calling over to their house to let them know that I saw the ambulance and if there's anything I can do to help I will. The 7 year old started school yesterday and I believe she'll be at the same school as Kaelyn. Chad could certainly pick her up from school so that the mom doesn't have to bring the baby out. I just don't want her to think that I'm just some nosy neighbor trying to know all their business.

I should sleep better tonight. I went for a 3.5 mile walk after we ate supper. Whew! It feels good though.

Kaelyn and Memere picked blueberries. Last night I made some low cal oatmeal blueberry muffins. They're nothing special. If there is anyone reading this blog that has any good recipes that are low cal or low fat I'd been grateful. I have a hard time finding good baking recipes that I can eat without feeling guilty.

I'm so tired! I didn't get to sleep until after 1am. I was tired but I couldn't sleep, just layed there tossing and turning. Finally I turned the TV on and watched the pre-recordered selectman's meeting. Now I know the location of every town tree that will be cut down within the next few weeks. If there's a hurricane I know that the selectman and department heads have a plan that they've been talking about. No hurricanes please! We have about 6 huge trees in our backyard and I can't be worried about them falling and crushing our house.

I have alot to write about but not enough time to write about it all now.

The weekend was good. Yesterday I went to Weight Watchers. I didn't lose this week, I actually had a gain of .2 but I can handle that. After WW I went for a long walk by myself and my walkman. Walking along the ocean listening to Jimmy Buffett is heaven. Then I came home and took a shower and Kaelyn and I got ready to go out to RI.

My uncle's (who is deceased) partner lives in RI but he'll be moving to Calif. soon. Last night, I brought my grandparents and my two aunts to visit and we all went out for Chinese food. It was a nice visit but I can tell he's having a difficult time with the move. He and my uncle shared lots of great times in their house and he's going to be leaving the house that they lived in together for so long. He's moving to the San Fran Bay Area and he showed us pics of the new house that he is having built. It's gorgeous and it has 6 bedrooms. He told me that we better come and visit. He doesn't have to worry about that.

This morning I went to the grocery store. As I pulled into my space, which is always far away from the door. Not because I have a new car but I've done this since I started WW since I can use the extra walk. There's this burly, white haired man not paying attention and he's coming in my direction. I beep my horn to let him know that I was there. He gets all pissed and starts yelling and throwing his hands in the air. I didn't think much of it until he started following me around the store. He was freaking me out. I tried to ignore him but it was hard. He was so strange. Of course since I was trying to hurry I forgot a whole bunch of things. During the last couple of aisles he wasn't around anymore. Then I started to worry that he left before me and maybe he was planning to do something to my van. Apparently, he didn't cause any harm to me but it was still freaky. I told Chad about it but he didn't seem phased. I guess you had to be there.

Sometime today we had to drop my van off at the dealership. Last week when we brought the van to the gas station (for an inspection sticker) that they gave us a voucher for since their service dept was closed it somehow got a chip in the paint. It wasn't like that when it went into the garage but it came out like that. The guy swore that he didn't do it and he and Chad went back and forth. Really there was nothing we could do since it was our word against his and we didn't actually see him do it. So Chad went right over to the sales manager and told him what happened. They agreed that they would take care of it for us.

The dealership is about 40 mins from our house. We decided to head that way and drop the van off and then head a little farther to the outlets. I landed myself a few shirts from here and Chad got a couple pairs of shorts. Then we stopped here to get a pair of sneakers for Chad and one pair for myself. Also got socks. The outlets were packed. Kaelyn was starting to fall asleep while we were looking for a parking spot. Chad dropped us at the door and he looked for a spot which took awhile.

In other news, I guess there are some advantages to having a husband we has a part time job which is fun. They are looking for extra help for a couple of shows which are sold out. I'll be working security (ha!) at the J!mmy Buffett concert and the Bruce Springst**n concert. I can't wait! I'm especially excited because the Springst**n concert is the first ever rock concert at Fenw@y P@rk. Woohoo!

I've been offered to do shows in the past but I hated leaving Kaelyn someplace overnight. She occasionally stays at my parents overnight but I prefer her to be home with me. She's almost 4 so I figure its okay if I leave her once in a while. She'll be staying with my mom the night of the Jimmy B. concert. My dad will be with us since this is his part time job also. The night of the Springst**n concert Chad's cousin's wife, who happens to be my friend since we were 5 and my coworker, will be watching Kaelyn. Kaelyn's pretty excited. They have 2 girls and Kaelyn enjoys being with them. I hope that she'll be okay.

The Friday 5

1. When was the last time you laughed?
I'm sure that I've laughed since then but Chad said something in Chili's the other night that struck me funny. Every time I thought of it I started laughing. It was one of those "belly laughs" that feels so good. Everyone needs one every once in awhile. I smiled all the way home.

2. Who was the last person you had an argument with?
Not really sure about this one. It must've been Chad because I seem to take so much out on him.

3. Who was the last person you emailed?
The last person that I emailed was a co-worker.

4. When was the last time you bathed?
Last night. I took a bath because its easier to shave my legs. Friday is "dress down" day at work and we are allowed to wear shorts. Gotta have smooth, silky, sexy legs!

5. What was the last thing you ate?
The last thing that I ate was my breakfast. It consisted of a cup of cheerios, a cup of 1% milk and a banana. I ate the banana seperate, not in my cereal.

Chad just got home from eating 4 lobsters at his employee appreciation dinner for his part time job. They even had leftover lobsters and he brought one home but I sent it to my mother. I'm not a big lobster fan.

I can hear Chad yelling at the tv set downstairs. He's watching the semi-finals (?) of the Little League World Series and he's rooting for the Saugus, Mass team. Does he think that they can hear him?

I'm headed to the air conditioned bedroom.

I had to take Lactating Barbie down. She was a little too larger than life for my little blog.

We had supper at Chili's tonight. As we were leaving Chad and Kaelyn spotted the pet store right next store. We now have a new member of the family, a teddy bear hamster. Chad's putting the cage together now and the two of them are responsible for the cleaning of this hamster cage. I know that Chad will hold up on his end of the deal. He cares for and cleans up after the dog and the fish (before it died).

This morning we had a meeting at work to discuss the negativity in the office. I think that it went pretty well. Our manager got her point across and the negative people (3 of them) got to express their concerns and fustrations. I just knew that the negativity wouldn't change, if it did it wouldn't be for long. Well co-worker #1 just slammed her phone and started complaining again. This behavior will spread to the others and before long they'll be acting the same way. I feel like telling them to look for another job. They always think the grass is greener on the older side. They've worked here forever and don't know any different. We work for a huge, well known national company and we are treated very well. Yeah, sure I'd like to make more money but I don't. On the other hand, I can leave anytime I need to and there are no questions asked. I've been able to change my lunchhour so that I can bring Kaelyn to school. I can wear casual dress, even jeans are acceptable. Good benefits. Everyone bitches once in awhile but these ladies are chronic complainers.

We picked up the minivan tonight. I'm so excited. I absolutely love it. I have to go back tomorrow and pick up the registration and get an inspection sticker. The registry was closed by the time I got there tonight. I'm going to bed now though.

I would have really liked to get a minivan with a DVD player already installed. They had a few but we didn't like the colors. I'm thinking about getting one installed or maybe getting a portable DVD player. I've got to get a few quotes on how much it costs to have them installed. I don't know anyone with a portable DVD player so I no opinions on them.

Kaelyn's birthday is in less than a month and I haven't even thought about what I'm going to do. I asked her what kind of birthday she'd like and she said a gymnastics party. Huh? The place that she goes for gymnastics doesn't offer anything like that. I may try one other place but if they don't do it then she's out of luck. The fact that she said that makes me feel a little badly that I haven't signed her up for gymnastics in the fall. I figure that we are signing up as a family at the YMCA and she'll be taking swimming lessons there. She'll be starting preschool in Sept. I really don't want her to get burnt out doing so many activities. As far as the bday party is concerned we'll probably have it at my parents house and if its warm enough the kids can swim. We'll only be inviting the immediate family.

Friends of ours just had a baby girl and her name is Ariel Rose. Kaelyn says that when we have a baby we'll name her Melody and if we have a boy we'll name him Prince Eric. Um, I'm not so sure about that.

I found a solution to my bathing suit dilemma. The bathing suit that I have now fits perfectly and I feel comfortable in it. I sent an email off to the company and asked if they knew where I could find the same kind of suit in a similar design. They directed me to QVC. Sure enough when I checked their website I found quite a few of their bathing suits and also a couple that are similar to the one I already have. I went ahead and bought this one in the aqua color. I really wanted this one but they didn't have my size. I know, I know I'm not even 30 years old and I'm wearing a swim dress. I never thought that I would wear one but last year my mother and I were in Fashion Bug and she pressured me into trying it on. Honestly I would have never picked it off the rack but once I tried it on I loved it. It's very forgiving.

On days like today I'm glad that my parents have a pool. Kaelyn and I went over and my parents were already in the pool. Kaelyn makes my mom a little nervous with all of the under water tricks that she tries to perform. I guess I'm just used to it. I mentioned to my parents that I'm going to sign her up for swimming classes for the fall. They thought it was a good idea and even offered to pay. I think that I'll take them up on their offer. I usually resist when they try to pay for things because I feel funny about it. I really should just accept it though. They try really hard to make sure things are equal between the grandkids. I know that they pay for alot of my neice's activities because my sister is a single mom and just can't afford it. I don't mind at all because I know that if I was in her situation they would do the same for me.

I came home and made a low cal version of lazy man's stuffed cabbage that I got from my Weight Watchers leader. It's super simple, yummy and definitely one of our favorites. A nice change of pace from our usual summer menu which almost always includes something on the grill.

The nurse practicioner from Kaelyn's pediatrician's office goes to Weight Watchers on Saturday morning also. Today she reached her goal weight. She's lost a total of 113lbs. When they presented her with some gifts and she told her story I got all teary eyed. It was really emotional. It really gave me the motivation that I need to keep losing.

Well we did it. We bought a minivan last night. Well we don't have it yet but we've signed the papers. We're getting a Dodge Grand Caravan Sport. We've been looking around for a while and we pretty much knew what we wanted but we weren't all that impressed with the dealerships that we had visited. Last night we drove about 45 mins to another Dodgle dealership. They had quite a few 2003 vans on their lot. We told them what we were looking for and they came back to us with an offer. This went on back and forth for awhile. I could tell that they were fustrated with me and my ability to not budge an inch. I knew where I wanted my payments to be and I wasn't accepting anything else. The sticker price on the van was $30,995 and we ended up getting it for $19,995. This includes $5000 instant rebates/discounts and $6000 for our trade. I was happy since our trade in is a 1995 Saturn and the value in the Kelly book was $1500. I was so proud of myself. I have never taken a tough stance on buying a car or anything else in my life for that matter. Chad was pretty happy with me also. He would have bought the van at a much higher price since he doesn't like to haggle on the price.

This is all part of the plan for me to eventually become a SAHM. Once I get pregnant again I plan on working through my pregnancy and then not returning after my maternity leave. Things will be tight but we're determined to make it work. So, we've decided that we won't be able to take expensive vacations. We'll probably buy a pop up camper and spend some time at the beautiful state park campgrounds that we have in the Northeast. We'll need a vehicle that can tow it, which a minivan can do. Although, I'm still a little bitter about our last trip. The other reason for the minivan is that I may have to care for one or two children to make ends meet. We'll need a bigger vehicle if I want to bring them places.

It seems like my plan is coming together. I just need to get pregnant!

Weekly Wrap-Up

1. Do you enjoy arts & crafts? Why or why not?
I do. I love the feeling of completing a project and knowing that I did it myself.

2. What was your favorite arts & crafts project as a child? Why?
I loved making bead necklaces and bracelets. I spent alot of time working with gimp. Not too long ago Chad's young cousin has some gimp lying around her house. It's like riding a bike, I picked it up and it didn't take much to remember what to do.

3. What kinds of arts & crafts do you do now? Has this changed over time? If so, how and why?
Scrapbooking, that's about it. I love to scrapbook and at one time I was a Creative Memories consultant. Life got busy and I gave up being a consultant but I still scrapbook. I wish I had more time to devote to it.

4. What kind of arts & crafts would you like to learn how to do? Why?
I'd love to learn to knit and crochet. I have plenty of people to teach me but just haven't gotten to it yet.

5. Describe your ideal arts & crafts environment, whether it's at home, school, work, or elsewhere.
My ideal environment would be a room with a long L shaped table, good lighting, and a hutch or cabinets with lots of small drawers. I like to keep my scrapbooking materials organized and its hard to do without these things. Right now, my materials do occupy a spare bedroom that we have but the organization isn't as nice as I'd like. Plus, when we have another baby my scrapbook supplies will have to find a new home. At that time maybe I'll have to convince Chad to finish the basement and give me some room of my own.

We just got home a little while ago from downtown. One Thursday (or maybe two) a month the downtown merchants and restaurants stay open late and there are areas that have music and art. Tonight the Toe Jam Puppet Band was playing. Kaelyn wore her Tow Jam Puppet Band t-shirt and had a great time. Then we headed down to the coffee shop and listened to a few sets by The Barley Stompers. Then we made our way to Ernie's Deli and listened to Pumpkinhead Ted. I'm really glad that Kaelyn gets to experience so much great music. My dad raised us listening to all types of music and I try to do the same for Kaelyn. It was a great night.

What's on your kitchen walls Right Now?

Hardly anything. Just a little plate that my grandmother painted on for me and also a wooden spoon that she painted. Since we moved here 7 1/2 years ago I've wanted to remodel the kitchen. It's outdated. A few people have told me to leave it because it has character. I don't buy it. Someday I'll get a new kitchen.

Chad is working tonight and I was hoping that I could get Kaelyn to bed soon but I won't get my hopes up. She started with a runny nose this morning. I thought that it might be allergies but this afternoon she developed a fever. If she isn't better tomorrow morning I'll call the chiropractor and bring her in. Often times she just needs a slight adjustment and she's better in no time.

I wanted some alone time so that I could work on my scrapbook. It's not possible to get any done with Kaelyn awake since she wants to help.

Oh, and I hope that Chad isn't getting too wet. He's working at an open venue tonight about an hour away. It's raining hard and just started thundering and lightning. Plus, he's not feeling well. He thinks that he pulled a muscle in his back. Poor guy.

It's difficult to be productive when a co-worker is spreading her negativity in the office. I keep telling myself to keep my eyes on my work, look busy and try to ignore here.

We'd like to do something for Chad's aunt, the one who's son died. We'd like to do something to memorialize him. So far we are leaning towards naming a star after him from International Star Registry . Feel free to chime in with other ideas if you have them.

It's so humid here! I went for a long walk tonight and I was drenched in sweat in no time at all. Kaelyn wanted to come with me. Then halfway through the walk she said she wanted to turn around because she was bored. I told her that I would stop and get her an ice cream along the way. We got there and they were closed. So I called Chad from the cell phone and asked him if he wanted to go one town away for ice cream. A new ice cream shop just opened and they make their own ice cream. By far, the best ice cream I've ever had. Tonight I got the lowfat chocolate almond yogurt. Yum, yum!

Chad knows that he needs to go see his aunt but I can tell he's feeling some anxiety about it. I told him that if he wanted I would go with him tomorrow night when I get home from work. He has a hard time dealing with death. I gently reminded him that she was there for us when his parents died and he needs to be there for her.

He and I handle death very differently. His parents died of cancer within 9 months of each other. We cared for his mom at their apartment and she died 2 months before our wedding. His dad was diagnosed with cancer 3 months after our wedding and we took him in to live with us so that we could care for him. He died less than 4 months later. I was very open with my emotions and I still have memories of lying in bed with his mom to keep her company. I vividly remember the springtime breeze that came in through the windows. I felt comfortable showing her my emotions but Chad would hibernate in another room. Still to this day he pushes his emotions back down inside. We have a few pictures of his parents around the house but not many which is Chad's choice. He hasn't really explained to Kaelyn that she has another set of grandparents. Which was fine while she was little but she's getting older now. In fact, just the other day she asked Chad who his mom was. I could tell he was caught off guard and I'm not even sure what he told her. I think that he avoided the question. I hope that eventually he'll come around and be able to share lots of stories about his parents with Kaelyn. She deserves to hear them and I can't share them the way that he can. He lived with them, I didn't.

It's a little disturbing to get a phone call at work from your husband telling you that his cousin comiitted suicide. This just doesn't seem real. His cousin was older than us and lived in New Hampshire. We usually only saw him once or twice a year when he came down to visit. We never had a whole lot in common with him but he was always the life of the party. He was a real party animal for many years which turned into a huge drug and alcohol problem. About 5 years ago he got away from the drugs and alcohol and really turned his life around. I guess that many of us never knew until now that he was battling with depression. He finally was diagnosed bi-polar and was on meds but he was having a difficult time.

Back to work tomorrow. I'm suddenly feeling ill. I love my job but hate leaving my child. Granted, my gparents care for her while I work but its still hard. We're closing on our refinancing on Wed and we're getting to a point where it looks like I'll be able to become a SAHM. Our plan was too wait until we got pregnant with our next child so that I would have a full paid maternity leave. Well that's not happening as quickly as I would have liked. I thought for sure this time would be easier since I am so much healthier than I was when I got pregnant with Kaelyn. I guess it doesn't make much difference. Knowing that our mortgage is suddenly cheaper and the rest of our bills under control its really hard to go to work.

I mentioned to my boss about a month ago that Kaelyn is starting preschool in Sept and I'd like to change my lunch hour. She said that she didn't think there would be a problem with it but she'd have to check with HR. I'm going to remind her about it tomorrow. Our HR director can be a stickler and I'm worried that if I wait much longer she'll try to give me a problem about it. I've already warned Chad that if she gives me a problem I'll quit. I give alot to the company so I think that they should be able to allow me to change my lunch hour so that I can bring Kaelyn to school. Yes, my gparents could bring her but I WANT to bring her. I feel like I miss out on enough already.

Also, it will be nice to meet some of the mom's of the other children. I only have a few friends. I've lived in this town all my life but all of my friends from school either moved away or I have nothing in common with them anymore.

No need to test, Aunt Flo arrived today. Ack. Good thing there's no chocolate or I'd do some serious damage.

I'm in a weight loss rut. I think that its a combination of things but I'm struggling with food right now. I came upstairs to look for some creative healthy recipes to help get me back on track. I've been down on myself. My period was due last week and nothing yet. Everyday I tell myself to take a pregnancy test but I don't do it. I hate the negative result I'll probably get when I do break down and take one. I really don't think that I'm pregnant, I just think its this stupid PCOS treating me badly again. I thought for sure that losing weight and being on Metformin would help my cycle so that I could get pregnant much more easily this time but so far it hasn't. Kaelyn tells me often that she wants a baby brother or sister. All that I can say is "maybe, someday.....". People that don't know of our fertility struggles ask if we want another child and I say "maybe" when inside I'm really screaming "We're trying, we're trying". I will take "the test" this week and if it is negative I'll have to call my RE and schedule an appt so that we can once again do the medication routine.

Yesterday we travelled to Western Mass. First we went to Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory and Gardens. We had never been before and I really wasn't quite sure what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised. The kids learned alot about the life cycle of a butterfly. The butterflies seem to have a knack of knowing who to land on and who not to. Even though Serena and Kaelyn stood perfectly still for a long time not one landed on them. My mother and Chad always had at least two butterflies on them at all times. None landed on me but that might be because I was constantly moving and taking pictures.

Then we headed over to the Yankee Candle Company. We were quite hungry since it was late afternoon and we hadn't eaten lunch. We stopped in at Chandler's Restaurant for a nice hearty lunch. We spent alot of time in the different areas of Yankee Candle since there's so much more to see than candles. We left at about 6 for the 2 1/2 hour drive home. It felt longer!

Today we are just chilling at home. I did grocery shopping earlier. Chad installed the air conditioner in the living room because it is so humid. We're just running it on low so that we can get the dampness out of the house. Everything feels sticky and wet, so gross.

I was feeling guilty so yesterday we took Chad's cousins and my neice (all of them were suppossed to come up to came for a couple of days) to the Museum of Science. I had picked up the discount pass from the library which enabled four of us to get in at $4.00 each and the other 3 we paid full price for. I hope that the museum gives grants to less fortunate families because it isn't cheap and its a great learning experience for children. Granted, all of the kids with us weren't ours. But, even if we had 3 kids it would have cost us $56.00 and that doesn't include the Planetarium or the Omni shows. How do big families do it? Then we brought the kids out for dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe. We don't get to go often because its expensive and its so far from our house. It was a fun day.

The Friday Five

1. What's the last place you traveled to, outside your own home state/country?
That would be New Hampshire for our rain-soaked camping trip that I wrote about below.

2. What's the most bizarre/unusual thing that's ever happened to you while traveling?
Today while we were travelling on the Mass Pike we spotted an older man driving alongside us. He was wearing full military gear, helmet and all and he looked over towards us with this crazed look in his eye. It was bizarre. In fact, after we saw him Chad noted that he hopes that we don't see a story about this guy on the 11 o'clock news tonight.

3. If you could take off to anywhere, money and time being no object, where would you go?
I would go to Northern Ireland to visit my dear friend Sharon. We've been very good friends since we were 12 years old. My parents sponsored her to come over as part of the Cape Irish Children's Program. The aim is to provide Belfast children a six-week break on Cape Cod free from the troubles of their homeland. Our family was Catholic but we didn't have a preference on the religion of the child. She happened to be Protestant. I clearly remember the day we picked her up. We hit if off instantly. She spent six weeks with our family and we all cried including Sharon when it was time for her to leave. This trip had been paid for by the CICP but if my parents wanted her to come back again with the program they would have to foot the bill. My parents didn't have much money and they worked really hard over the next 10 months to save everything they could. We held a huge yard sale and she was also able to come back the next summer. She's only been back once since then as an adult, about 7 years ago and my parents have been to Northern Ireland to visit her a couple years ago. If and when she decides to get married we will definitely be there.

4. Do you prefer traveling by plane, train or car?
Definitely by plane.

5. What's the next place on your list to visit?
We have a Western Carribean cruise planned for November.

Okay, so camping didn't work out as planned. We arrived on Sunday and set up and within an hour it started to rain. It wasn't raining too hard and we were pretty protected by the rain so we hung around outside for awhile and the cooked supper. After supper it started raining very hard so we moved into the tent and played My First Uno, Disney Yahtzee Junior and Go Fish. The humidity was something that you'd expect in Florida and the inside of the whole tent just felt wet! Finally I convinced Kaelyn and Serena to try to sleep. Kaelyn was in bed with us. After an hour of dripping with sweat we stripped down to our undergarments. Believe me, it didn't help. Around 9ish it started to thunder and lightning. This wasn't your typical New England thunderstorm. It lasted for 5 hours and was very intense. I didn't start getting nervous until around midnight, terrible scary thoughts starting running through my mind. I think that I was more nervous about lightning hitting a tree and falling on us. I kept thinking that it would take us so long to get to a hospital if something were to happen since we were quite far from any main roads. I was really freaking myself out so I woke Chad up and asked him to talk me through it for awhile. That helped and I fell asleep after the storm was over. I woke at 5am because I just had to get myself out of that wet tent. It didn't help much since it was raining outside. It stopped raining long enough for us to eat breakfast.

That morning Chad set up what the kids called "tarp city" so that they had room to play outside even when it was raining. It helped but the kids were still getting bored easily. Afterall, we could see the beach from our campsite but we couldn't play in the sand or in the water. Monday was really stressful. Rain fell continuously all day long. We had only been there 24 hours and I had 2 loads of laundry that needed to be done. We headed to the laundry/shower area and we did laundry and took showers. That was the highlight of our day. It sucked. By nightfall I was practically in tears and so were the kids. It was already too dark to pack up and head home. Instead we headed back to the laundry that night and threw all of the sleeping bags and pillows into the dryer. This helped alot. I actually had a good nights sleep on Tuesday. In the morning we agreed that the weather forecast looked bad for the remainder of the week so we packed up and headed home. I'm disapointed that it didn't work out for the kids but we'll bring them again another time. Maybe...... I'm still a little sour about the weather.

We came home last night. I'll write more later.

We're leaving right now......... I'll be back on Saturday and I'll try to write about our adventures then.

Not much time to blog. I need to head to Weight Watchers, the Farmers Market and then come back to pack. I hope the forecast starts looking a little more promising. Camping in the rain is no fun at all.

We got our tattoos last night. The tattoo artist designed this really cool ankle tattoo using the "mother and child" pendant. Then he made a design going around the rest of my ankle. I love it. I've got to figure out how to post pictures so that you can see. I'm really happy with it. Chad got a tribal phoenix which also looks awesome.

I'm off to WW and I'm sure that I've gained this week. Not sure what is happening but I ate well this week and I gained. Oh well. I guess I need to excercise.