Today, I set out to finish my holiday shopping before “Black Friday.” It is my goal every year to finish before the stores change over from Halloween to Christmas.  Hardly possible anymore!  That way, I can enjoy the season, singing carols, making special food, snuggling up in front of the fire, enjoying friends, enjoying family, and hoping for snow! I […]

Raising a puppy is a humbling experience.  Parker is a great dog. She gets the mixed message furniture rule—the one that says Dad lets her on the furniture to cuddle and Mom doesn’t.  She knows not to beg but understands ice cream bowls are for licking.  She takes walks in her harness and doesn’t pull, walks on her leash and […]

On May 17, 2014,  Retired Admiral William H. McRaven gave the commencement address at the University of Texas at Austin.   Admiral McRaven is a retired U.S. Navy officer who had served as a Navy SEAL and whose last position was as the commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command.  His speech focused on the 10 lessons he learned from […]

Yesterday, on our way out for a family hike, we passed the Lincoln Corner Covered Bridge that has been closed since March.  You may remember it was closed when a truck with some very tall landscape equipment hit the top going through and, instead of stopping, the driver plowed on— hitting each and every truss. Repairs have finally started, and […]

A few weeks ago, I stopped by the farmers market at Mount Tom, looking for some carrots for a beef stew I wanted to make. It was one of the first cool days this fall and I felt like cooking something hot. I found my carrots and then looked around to see what else might be available.  One young farmer […]

This week, my husband, the builder, had an unusual opportunity.  While he was waiting in a lawyer’s office in Massachusetts to buy a piece of property the lawyer told him about a property for sale in Vermont.  It was an unusual story…  John, a client, inherited a historic brick house in a small village in Vermont. He had never seen […]

Last year, I found a kitchen magnet that read, “I will try again tomorrow.”  I thought it was inspirational.  I thought it would remind me to persevere in the face of adversity.  Last night, I threw it away. On Monday, I wanted to attend the town picnic, but Sadie had a soccer game and we couldn’t make it in time.  […]

For the first time in thirty years, my family did not go camping over Labor Day weekend.  We have gone away with a group of friends, our children, our children’s children, friends of our children, their boyfriends, and girlfriends— through soccer tryouts and college years— every year.  It has been a great run and we have many happy memories. Over […]

Adopting a puppy is easy—you see one, you want one.  Parker is a joy, albeit a joy that now weighs 30 lbs and wants to sit in my lap.  I know, I know!  I should have enforced the “no couch” rule when she was tiny.  I didn’t and now… I also have a cat.  Amber is a joy— actually, she […]

Summer always brings out the best in me. I am way more active, sometimes forgetting that I am no longer fifteen and truly no longer able to deep-water dump a kayak and gracefully climb back aboard.  Thankfully, Sadie is still willing to laugh with her mom when no one else is looking. Of course it probably helps that it stays […]

By the time you are reading this newsletter, I hope this little experiment is no longer possible!  You know how we have some days in the summertime where the thermometer climbs so high that the pool, the river, and even the ocean no longer feel refreshing?  Well, we hit that point today. I was taking care of my two granddaughters […]

Here in Vermont, you may not be familiar with the mega-vine kudzu. Kudzu is an invasive plant species from Japan.  It has been spreading in the South at the rate of 150,000 acres annually with   devastating environmental consequences. Once established in a habitat, kudzu is able to grow up to 60 feet per season, or about one foot per day. […]

Do you remember those books that were popular a few years ago,  Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten and my personal favorite Everything I Need to Know I Learned from my Dog?   They were fun to read, and to some extent really did offer a life based on a few simple rules. When the books were […]

Five months ago, our 12 -year-old lab passed away.  We were devastated.  It wasn’t unexpected:he had been slowing down for the last couple of years.  Still, it was sad and the house felt empty without him.  We are a dog family even though we have always had a cat or two.  Cats are cats, and if you suit them, they […]

Most of us tend to live our lives in a fairly straightforward manner, especially where our work lives are concerned.  Almost thirty years ago my husband— yes, the builder— was a CPA for one of the Big Eight accounting firms in Boston.  Everyone who worked for Coopers was part of the race to make partner.  That meant long days, and […]

This past weekend, I watched one of the Steve Jobs movies.  It wasn’t the one that glamorized his rise to fame but one that showed some of his more human flaws.  In this movie, he was a tyrant, but nonetheless a very driven and successful man.  The one overarching theme in the movie was his refusal to compromise and his […]

The internet is on the fritz—not unusual, lately.  On Thursday, I went to the office.  I had tons of work to do, all of which involved using the internet. The internet, in town hall, can be iffy.  No problem! I didn’t have any set appointments scheduled, so I headed home.  I could get my work done there.  The internet at […]

Last week, Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati announced that 17 of its students achieved a perfect 36 on the ACT College Admissions test.  Schools are on board with more aggressive preparation because they, the schools, are increasingly measured by student performance on standardized tests.  Parents are on board because they hope to see the financial benefits a higher test […]

I imagine you were as shocked as I was on Tuesday morning to find my lovely spring garden covered with snow.  Snow?  Frost I can handle, I expect it this time of year and listen to the weather forecast to see if I need to cover any of the new flowers.  I always plant some plants too early hoping to […]

Mom, Mama, Mommy, Moms, Ma, Grandma, Nana, Oma, Yaya, Grams, or whatever else they go by, Sunday is Mother’s Day.  The American version was first celebrated by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. It is said, Jarvis later regretted the commercialization of the day and criticized companies like Hallmark, saying they misinterpreted and exploited […]

“No maps.”  Dwayne, the friendly Bahamian at the tourist office, smiled and told us, “No maps.” “What?” Our family had just arrived on Grand Bahama Island and we were ready to start exploring.  “No maps. Long time now.  We order from Nassau. The government they order maps,” Dwane said, shaking his head sadly. Smiling broadly he pointed to the counter,  […]

Last year, the Job Bank introduced Bit Time to the community. Bit Time  was designed to answer the growing need to have an available list of workers to do odd/one-time jobs.  We standardized the hourly wage to $20 per hour.  The idea was that lots of people might be interested in a few hours of odd-job work at a decent […]

If you missed your chance to see YOH put on their production of Mamma Miaa few weeks ago, you really missed something special.  It’s a great show and the students did an amazing job pulling it off.  They had the audience dancing in the aisles.  I thought the success of the movie Mamma Mia relied on the amazing scenery from […]

This week, I made the crazy decision to combine a full week at the Job Bank with a full week teaching a class of third graders to spin wool.   Nuts, right?  I used to do a lot of fiber arts projects with children before I became the Job Bank director.  I loved it. Kids are fun and enthusiastic and full of […]

This weekend, I finally persuaded my husband to paint the tile floor in our bathroom.  “Paint tile—never!”  That is exactly what he said.  Our house in Woodstock was built by the Bridgewater Mill at the end of World War I for returning mill managers and their families. It is sturdy and utilitarian with a great view of the river.  If […]