We know, We know....We KNOW! - We need to update.... so... here it is:
I left my job at Keystone(Yay-no more 1.5 hour drives!) ....and Joe had 28 days on LEAVE - Oh... pure joy. Today he actually went back to work...and had duty. He told me during breakfast that I looked like someone shot my dog. I felt like someone shot my dog. We had the chance to enjoy each other for the last four weeks- It was very enjoyable, much needed and....as relaxing as Joe and Samantha could possibly make it. So, what did we do you ask:
First - We enjoyed Thanksgiving in Maine with Joe's family- Joe's dad wasn't home from the hospital- but his mom's work donated a whole lot of food for all of us to eat. Riley and Maggie ( Joe's siblings ) added desserts and appetizers- whew was I full. I got to try out the famous fruit salad too - yummy! Thomas ( Joe's brother ) and Dani ( Joe's sister-in-law ) joined us as well. With our tummy's full and our car packed with luggage we headed to Boston on good ole Turkey day. We stayed the night there, left our car...but took our luggage and headed to...*drum roll please* ARUBA for a week. We stayed at the most beautiful time share resort there-(When we figure out how to post pictures, we will ) and enjoyed ourselves by soaking up the sun, reading books, eating at five start restaurants and floating around the resorts lazy river. We also did a whole lot of nothing- and it was great. While we were on this great vacation we found out (via email) that Joe's dad was coming home!!!! It's been a long journey for the whole family- and we were ultra excited that all of our wishes were about to come true- Christmas together!
So.... we came home to a huge mess - Oh, right... I left that part out- we got tenants in the RI house- and had to move all the furniture and remaining boxes in a matter of a few days before our trip to Maine. Our living room was full of furniture- People were in and out picking up(buying) furniture and/or appliances our first few days back. Joe and I spent our time reading and unpacking.... reading... and organizing... whew! What a mess.... and a lot of work.... after there was some sort of order in our house....we jetted off to Illinois to visit my family. Well... jetted isn't the right word.... we .... *gasp* DROVE. Our GPS took us straight there- with a few stops for gas, a short over night stay and a quick movie(We had to see Golden Compass-it had come out that day!- and we're reading the series right now). Most people think it's great that we are still together after our crazy drive- but we actually had fun. We packed snacks, we downloaded audio books on the GPS and we listened to a lot of Country music. ( Joe claims that I am a "Fire Cracker" - Listen to the country song to see if you agree- We heard it over 20 times on our trip! ). We did a lot of visiting and a lot of shopping- Oh and Joe got to have his FIRST experience with Portillos- Chicago Italian beef- yum,yum! Due to storms and REALLY bad weather- we drove home straight avoiding all of the horrible weather by about 45 minutes. Whew!
When we got home- I started my new job. Well kind of. Most of you know I work for an amazing company called Making It Count. I have the pleasure of presenting enriching presentations all over the US to High School and College students. This job is my dream job- but it's also only contract work. Due to my job at Keystone- I was turning down a lot of speeches because I only had so much VK/Sick time banked. I knew I needed to find a job that was flexible- and one that would supplement our income - and I did! I am the proud nanny of two beautiful girls - Regan (2.5) and Sadie(4 months). I am with them for three 11 hour days. I am lucky because the other two days they are with each set of grandparents. I can switch if I have presentations- best of both worlds. The extra income is great to fall back on right now but... best of all- they offered my flexibility- so, problem solved. The girls are a lot of fun. Sadie is a great baby. Regan is a high spirited, high energy cutie - and we are going to get along great. I had a few trial days with them and mom while she is still on maternity leave this month. My official start date is Jan 07. I'm still babysitting for beautiful Ava (and soon to be born Emma) because I'm still in that area on the weekend. I'll be in Ohio for another training for MIC Jan 04-06. It's for two scripts actually and I'm pumped. Having this time off have really given me the opportunity to get the scripts down well. No worrying this time!
Other then that... we've just finished organizing the house and rooms. We re-did the entire office upstairs and it looks great. We goofed off and played our interactive web games. We had an entire day where we didn't get out of our PJ's at all! We also put up our tree and Christmas lights outside. I got to learn about one AWESOME thing about living in Quakerhill - the fire truck comes around all LIT up and has speakers with music and everything. Santa gets off of it and visits houses with kids. It's so cute- and I was so excited. Joe and I watched them from our windows for quite a while.
... so my blissful days of "kiss tolls" and silliness are over. And I find myself a bit sad at the moment...
Happy Holidays
Love-Samantha
I left my job at Keystone(Yay-no more 1.5 hour drives!) ....and Joe had 28 days on LEAVE - Oh... pure joy. Today he actually went back to work...and had duty. He told me during breakfast that I looked like someone shot my dog. I felt like someone shot my dog. We had the chance to enjoy each other for the last four weeks- It was very enjoyable, much needed and....as relaxing as Joe and Samantha could possibly make it. So, what did we do you ask:
First - We enjoyed Thanksgiving in Maine with Joe's family- Joe's dad wasn't home from the hospital- but his mom's work donated a whole lot of food for all of us to eat. Riley and Maggie ( Joe's siblings ) added desserts and appetizers- whew was I full. I got to try out the famous fruit salad too - yummy! Thomas ( Joe's brother ) and Dani ( Joe's sister-in-law ) joined us as well. With our tummy's full and our car packed with luggage we headed to Boston on good ole Turkey day. We stayed the night there, left our car...but took our luggage and headed to...*drum roll please* ARUBA for a week. We stayed at the most beautiful time share resort there-(When we figure out how to post pictures, we will ) and enjoyed ourselves by soaking up the sun, reading books, eating at five start restaurants and floating around the resorts lazy river. We also did a whole lot of nothing- and it was great. While we were on this great vacation we found out (via email) that Joe's dad was coming home!!!! It's been a long journey for the whole family- and we were ultra excited that all of our wishes were about to come true- Christmas together!
So.... we came home to a huge mess - Oh, right... I left that part out- we got tenants in the RI house- and had to move all the furniture and remaining boxes in a matter of a few days before our trip to Maine. Our living room was full of furniture- People were in and out picking up(buying) furniture and/or appliances our first few days back. Joe and I spent our time reading and unpacking.... reading... and organizing... whew! What a mess.... and a lot of work.... after there was some sort of order in our house....we jetted off to Illinois to visit my family. Well... jetted isn't the right word.... we .... *gasp* DROVE. Our GPS took us straight there- with a few stops for gas, a short over night stay and a quick movie(We had to see Golden Compass-it had come out that day!- and we're reading the series right now). Most people think it's great that we are still together after our crazy drive- but we actually had fun. We packed snacks, we downloaded audio books on the GPS and we listened to a lot of Country music. ( Joe claims that I am a "Fire Cracker" - Listen to the country song to see if you agree- We heard it over 20 times on our trip! ). We did a lot of visiting and a lot of shopping- Oh and Joe got to have his FIRST experience with Portillos- Chicago Italian beef- yum,yum! Due to storms and REALLY bad weather- we drove home straight avoiding all of the horrible weather by about 45 minutes. Whew!
When we got home- I started my new job. Well kind of. Most of you know I work for an amazing company called Making It Count. I have the pleasure of presenting enriching presentations all over the US to High School and College students. This job is my dream job- but it's also only contract work. Due to my job at Keystone- I was turning down a lot of speeches because I only had so much VK/Sick time banked. I knew I needed to find a job that was flexible- and one that would supplement our income - and I did! I am the proud nanny of two beautiful girls - Regan (2.5) and Sadie(4 months). I am with them for three 11 hour days. I am lucky because the other two days they are with each set of grandparents. I can switch if I have presentations- best of both worlds. The extra income is great to fall back on right now but... best of all- they offered my flexibility- so, problem solved. The girls are a lot of fun. Sadie is a great baby. Regan is a high spirited, high energy cutie - and we are going to get along great. I had a few trial days with them and mom while she is still on maternity leave this month. My official start date is Jan 07. I'm still babysitting for beautiful Ava (and soon to be born Emma) because I'm still in that area on the weekend. I'll be in Ohio for another training for MIC Jan 04-06. It's for two scripts actually and I'm pumped. Having this time off have really given me the opportunity to get the scripts down well. No worrying this time!
Other then that... we've just finished organizing the house and rooms. We re-did the entire office upstairs and it looks great. We goofed off and played our interactive web games. We had an entire day where we didn't get out of our PJ's at all! We also put up our tree and Christmas lights outside. I got to learn about one AWESOME thing about living in Quakerhill - the fire truck comes around all LIT up and has speakers with music and everything. Santa gets off of it and visits houses with kids. It's so cute- and I was so excited. Joe and I watched them from our windows for quite a while.
... so my blissful days of "kiss tolls" and silliness are over. And I find myself a bit sad at the moment...
Happy Holidays
Love-Samantha
2 comments:
I'm glad you guys had such a nice 4 weeks together!!! I can't believe it's almost 2008! Miss you guys, we need to get together soon :-)
Sounds like you stayed at the Marriott Surf Club. We stayed there in April 2006 and it was a great week of family time! We hope to go back soon! And what a fabulous opportunity to take 28 days of leave all at once while on sea duty. You two are lucky duck! :-)
Post a Comment