Old Fashion Nor'easter

The much anticipated blizzard has come through for us. We have at least a foot and a half of snow and deep drifts. The wind started howling about 11 p.m. lat night and hasn't stopped yet although it seems to be laying down a bit. Our house is at a high point on land that drops down a few houses over. Those houses have a distant view of the bay and because of that exposure be get a lot of wind at times. We can hear the ocean roaring at times, the sound travels right up the hill. It is fantastic in the summer because we had very few mosquitos. Here are a few photos I took earlier in the day when it was blowing sidways.

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I have been very lazy about the blog lately. Mostly I have been wasting time because I can and because I like to.
Here are some of the more noteworthy goings on around here:
Weight Watches is going well and I am slowly loosing weight. I fell great and am taking long walks even if the day is very cold. I have my cold weather uniform from living in the Berkshires. If you don't dress properly there you will be miserable. Lots of polar fleece and a Patagonia gortex jacket to go over everything. It works.

I am registered for the CNA/CHHA course @ 4C's starting in January. That translates to: Certified Nurses Assistant/Certified Home Health Aide and the course is at Cape Cod Community College. This also means I will be employable come next May. Not a moment to soon. This is something I am really looking forward to.

Herb has been working on our little house and improving it by the week. Painting, removing ugly old bathroom mirrors, etc, replacing old knobs and hinges with brushed nickel ones. He ripped out a huge cedar closet that was in the cellar because water was coming in behind it and sure enough there is a crack in the foundation. Now he is trying to find the best solution to repair the crack and also we will have to regrade around the foundation to prevent water from running toward the foundation rather than away.
More tomorrow........

Personal Stuff

If you only want to read about how much fun I am having than you may want to skip this entry.

Life is great AND I have spent that last 3-4 years eating way too much coupled with my age(54) = overweightness. When we moved here in July I started celebrating with lobster rolls, french fries, fried clams, scones, ice cream, all the good summer shack food.
I am a person who looks in the mirror and sees myself as thin as opposed to all the small people out there who see a fat person in the mirror. But my clothes started to be tight and i just want to make sure I am taking care of my health so I want to get to a healthy weight.
Inspired by my sister who lost weight, looks fantastic and has kept the weight off I am going to Weight Watchers.
I have been before, lost weight then just bagged it and put the weight back on. My sister is a Lifetime Member and goes at least once a month to make sure she is staying on track. I think that is the secret to success with the program. I will put in a plug for Weight Watchers now. It is an incredible program. Simply put it advocates and educates very healthy eating. No starvation, no fads, really sound principals. I feel so good on this program and I am losing weight. I'm gonna brag: I make delicious meals that are filling and extremely healthy. I "cheat" a little but only a little and get right back on the horse after I fall off. Yesterday I went out and ate half my sandwich and wrapped the rest to eat today. Me? I did that? I was full and stopped eating??????????!!!!!!!!!!
I have some hot tips up my sleeve to make good stuff!!!
You know what? This has been fun too.

November in My Neighborhood

Last week on a beautifully mild day I walked down the hill from my house to Sesuit Harbor and the surrounding area which includes a working cranberry bog just feet from Cape Cod Bay. This area has lots of great homes that are empty this time of year and it is fun to poke around them when nobody is there.
It was dead low tide when I was walking around on the sandbar near the mouth of the harbor(duh). There were 2 Asian women gathering the tiny periwinkles that are all over the jetties and uncovered at low tide. I tried to talk to them about what they were doing but they either didn't want to talk or did not speak english very well or both. Anyway it was interesting and I am sure they were going to eat them.
The bog was harvested back in the end of September and I have a bag of cranberries from there waiting in my fridge. It is really fun to harvest wild cranberries too, or even snitch a few from a working bog! This time of year the bogs are the most lovely shade of well..cranberry color.

I am back to my blog

After a long absence I am back to the blog again.
We have been living here on the Cape almost 4 months. It seems like a whole lot longer then that. To sum up the experience I will say it has been mostly a pretty easy transition. The new house needs work and we are slowly doing small projects like painting. We are saving the larger projects for the next year when (hopefully) we have more money. All things said we really like the house and it is very comfortable and cosy. The neighborhood we are in is fantastic. It is especially quiet and has a county feel. It is great for walking and close enough to the ocean that we can smell low tide from Sesuit Creek when the wind is right and even hear the ocean at times. 3 houses over from us have a distant view of Cape Cod Bay. I can walk to the beach in half an hour and drive in less than 5 minutes. We got very lucky in our location. East Dennis is without a doubt a primo village to live in and not many days go by when I don't marvel at the fact that I am fortunate enough to live here and at the incredible beauty that surrounds me.

SAYING GOODBYE

Yesterday was my last day of work at Guido's in Pittsfield. I will miss the crazy and wonderful people I have spent 2 years with. Today is my last day at the Great Barrington store, it will be a tough day.

Last night we had a wonderful but short visit from Maria and David, who were sweeping though the Berkshire's on their whirlwind U.S. visit from Sweden. It was fantastic to see them and we packed a lot of laughs into 2 and a half hours. Next time we see them it will be on the Cape or in the Caribbean. Love you guys.

Emptier House

The house is getting emptier everyday. Less things, less people, a funny echo from the emptiness after people leaving and packing up our things. Today Herb sold his hugh table saw to a woodworker from Litchfield CT. Brian Warner came over with the backhoe to lift the Italian made workhorse into the new owner's truck. The shop looks empty too.

The excitement is building as we get closer to the 22nd. There is a stupid amount of work to do to get to the Cape, but I think I will have enough time to get it all done.

7 MORE DAYS OF WORK

After 6.5 years of working at Guido's I am down to the last 7 days. It has been a great run. It is a job that I mostly have loved, but I need to do something different and what that is remains to be seen. It would be amazing to have such great co-workers at another job, and I wonder if that is possible. Guido's is a company where you can actually be your real self. God knows that I would not have lasted for as long as I have otherwise. The stores are actually full of people who are awesome to spend the work day with, we like to laugh, razz the shit out of each other, cheer each other up, and sometimes argue with one another. We like to work hard together and sometimes piss away time. I am constantly amazed that so many of my co-workers like me so much(or pretend to) because I can be a very annoying person. Just ask my family!!

Matt, Chris and Renie: Thanks for letting me be a part of your family for so long. I love you and will miss you.

ALL FANTASTIC CO-WORKERS:I will miss you and you better not have too much fun without me. I love you and come visit me.

THE POOL.....HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A POOL SHAPED LIKE THIS?

O. K. What the heck is the idea with a pool shaped like, like, well...something a pool should NOT look like.  And this house belonged to an old lady, maybe she had a twisted sense of humor.  Or maybe the pool builders were evil.  How about the she just thought that was the ideal pool shape. Could have been that penis shaped pools were REALLY cheap at the time.  Whatever the reason, the pool is now ours, and hopefully it is not going to be too much of a burden.  Pools are suppose to be fun, happy, cooling, refreshing, relaxing, social areas, but not an embarrassment.  Oh hell, here it is~~~~

And More..............

LIVING ROOM

More New House Photos

TV Room

Dining Room

New house photos

Here are some photos of the new house in East Dennis.  It needs the kitchen and both baths done over, but it is going to be damn awesome when we are done.:)

Kaela's Feet

Yes, this is silly, buy why not have a post dedicated to baby feet!  I'll bet I am not the only one who loves baby feet and of course my granddaughter has very adorable, kissable, and photogenic feet, especially in her new jellies.  Kaela spends more time putting on and walking around in our shoes, it is so cute.  She really likes her Mama's high heels and everyone's flip flops, the bigger the better.  I like seeing her amuse herself this way rather that sitting in front of a television and it is VERY entertaining for the adults.   

A day off to get things done, empty the safe deposit box, make doctor appointments, pack a box here and there.  Herb and I throw away a dozen boxes of old tax info, you know, the kind you keep in your attic forever, till you move that is.  

Maya is packing today for her and Kaela's move to their apartment in Amherst.  Maya is excited to be getting her own place, and I am sure, very happy to be getting away from Mom and Dad for awhile.  A person going on 21 REALLY needs her own place to be sure and so do the parents.  We will miss the daughter, but not the daughter's mess.  I think I will probably cry myself to sleep the first night without my granddaughter, I am just crazy about this little girl.  I worry about all kinds of things for them both, but then I remember how much Maya loves her daughter and how much Maya has grown up this year.  I think this will be good for them, and the old folks too.

Sesuit Harbor is just beautiful, and it is the harbor where my father taught me to fish for mackerel from the jetty.  Now the site of the Sesuit Harbor Cafe, where EVERYONE should go.  When you come to visit me we will be going here and you can treat me to an orgasmic lobster roll.  And, you will remember our visit for a long time to come.

Can't wait to take you all here. 

Three and a half weeks till we are Cape Codders again.  Lots of packing, dreaming, organizing, and mostly WAITING.  This is such an exciting prospect to start a new adventure in a familiar but seemingly new place.  To wake each day with the possibility of bathing body and soul in the ocean is a prospect dreamed of for many years.  Will this reality be as satisfying as the fantasy?  Only time will tell!

Today I have started a blog to record the big move from the Berkshire's to Cape Cod.  This is a way for me to stay connected to many beloved friends I have in the Berkshire's who hopefully will want to see what I am up to and where I will live.