1-2-10

Jes came back from her West Virginia adventure last night and today we went with some friends to the Red River Gorge in the snow for a hike.

It was cold, beautiful, and the trail was very slick. At one point I was hanging onto a tree, on the sloped path, thinking I wouldn't be able to go any further. But I did.

The ice sickles were spectacular hanging from all the cliffs. I asked Jes to get me one and she did. Now she's a narwhal.

We saw a natural arch at the end our our trail and Dan and Jes went to investigate while I stayed and took more photos. They saw a memorial to a young man who fell off the arch and died. It was sad.

We saw "The Road" last night and it was sad too.

Jes leaves in the morning to go back to the snowy west and I don't know when I'll see her again. I think I've talked her into a photo blog. Will post the link if I'm successful. She's such a fine photographer and has a brand new Nikon D60 waiting for her when she gets back to Colorado. We could have dueling blogs.

1-1-10

We live here.

It's starting to feel like home.
This year, 2010, we will live here all year long, paint more rooms our colors, and even fix up the basement so that we will have more room for the family when they arrive.

There are enough flowers, I want to plant a vegetable garden out back. That's one goal for the year- to grow our own food, some of it at least.

This house was built for us 82 years ago. We've finally come home.

12-31-09

So this is it.
Last day of 2009- a year of more changes than you can shake a stick at.
Grad student to professor.
Virginian to Kentuckian.
Active mother to empty nester.

But some things remain:
1) Dan.
2) True friends.
3) My mom.
4) My sisters.
5) My children, grown as they are, are still linked to me by an unbreakable cord. (These days some call it the cell phone, but you know what I mean.)
6) You. Yes, you- reading this blog. I wasn't sure anybody read the thing, but there you are. Thank you for peering into my world.

You can keep peering-
I'm not sure what I'd do with all my free time if I quit now. Get published? Write a novel? Frame enough watercolors to have a show? Naaa.

Off to bed. Tomorrow is another decade. Best go check on that blue moon first.
10:28pm December 31st, 2009

12-30-09

From the looks of things, our family is pretty dispersed today. Aza is in New York with her boyfriend, Squirt is back in VA visiting friends, Jes is in a cabin in WVa having a reunion with her college friends, I am here at home and.... where is my husband? Looks like he's in Milwaukee. No? Well, his phone is! It hitched a ride with his parents and still sending out a signal from a padded envelope being shipped.

Today my mom left which gave us that empty nest feeling all over again. Ham and eggs for dinner. Watched an unusual Coen Brother's movie tonight- Hudsucker Proxy. Started writing the annual family newsletter.

12-29-09

Spent the day in Berea, Kentucky admiring all the handmade crafts. Had
the best lunch ever at the Main Street Cafe. Fried green tomato
sandwich with fresh mozzarella.
Dinner at Le Deauville- not as good as lunch in Berea. This is a photo
of a building on the campus of Berea College.

12-28-09

Outside in the snow this evening, taking pictures, who did I spy at my kitchen window?

And the woodshed looked so cool with the steam from the heater vent making the air all misty.

Jes is fixing to order her first digital slr this evening. SHE is going to do a blog TOO! Dontcha think she should?

12-27-09

Santa, the prettiest decoration on the Christmas tree...

But the best decorations of all in my house are my family. Where's Aza? Coming out the door?

The kids and their grandparents. We should have gotten in the picture too.

12-26-09

Today my mom, Jes, and I went antiquing. Mom spotted this sideboard that she likes. It's the only picture I took today. In the evening we all went to Ashland, the estate of Henry Clay for a "candlelight" tour. It was more of a floodlight tour and the lights triggered a major migraine, so I spent the evening in bed while the family dined on a delicious stew made from the rib roast left over from Christmas dinner. I ate some around 11pm when the medicine had done its trick, and boy was it good.

12-25-09

ET phone home!
Jes gets a hooded wrap for Christmas to face the Colorado winters.

Watch out!
Aza gets a tool set so she can fix all things broken.

Watch out fish in Arizona,
Squirt is coming to get you with his new fishing rod and reel.

And Jes is ready for her summer trek across the west.
Who's like her daddy? Hu?

A good Christmas was had by all. My favorite gift? Two gift certificates for hour long massages at a spa nearby. Think I'll schedule one for the afternoon of our first faculty meeting back at school!

12-24-09

I will try and take good pictures tomorrow of everybody. Today all my people pictures turned out wrong. But the cookie picture turned out great! Wow, what a spread of cookies we have accumulated.

So far three people have asked me to keep this blog going- Aza, Moonie, and Dan. I have a few more days to think about it. Sometimes I wonder where I get the time to always be thinking of a photo, always writing about the day in short blurbs. But then again, I wonder whether it's time well spent to document my life, our lives, in photos and short blurbs. Sometimes I find I'm able to remember an event because of the blog. When did we go to Hawaii? Oh, I blogged about that. It was the first year of the blog. It must have been 2007. And so forth.... And I'm glad, now that I'm gone from our home in Virginia, that I have a running record of our last three years there. And I wish I'd had the technology to do this when the kids were little. I've forgotten so much. So much. Too much.

Food for thought.

Back to those cookies....

12-23-09

Table cloth ironed, all ready for the homecoming.

Squirt and his Grandma make his favorite cookies, which he proceeded to eat in large quantities afterwards.

Jes finally arrives home for the first time since June, this time to a new home in Kentucky. Sisters together again.

12-22-09

I am thinking I might end this daily photoblog on December 31st.

12-21-09

Sophie watches birds out the bedroom window.
I went to work today and attended a meeting. Got a bit of shopping done.
My mother's china cabinet was delivered this afternoon. Where to put it?

Here next to the kitchen?

Or here, next to the window on the side?

I think we'll put it on the far wall next to the window.

My youngest children, Squirt and Aza, goofing off in the kitchen.
Squirt is trying to blind me with a laser pointer.
Thanks, Squirt.

12-20-09

This morning Aza departed from her two day stay snowed in the mountains of West Virginia. We waited and watched a flock of robins invade our front yard. I got out my telephoto lens and caught some awesome photos of them.

By 4pm Aza was home. I had been following her online through AT&T's cell phone tracking service and was waiting on the front porch for her to pull in the driveway and snap a photo of this homecoming from a four day trip over the mountains. Welcome home Aza!!!

12-19-09

Aza sent us this picture from her phone camera this morning. She is stuck en route to Kentucky... and luckily made it off the interstate last night to a warm hotel in West Virginia. This morning she started digging her car out. We have no idea how long she will have to stay there before she can drive home. What a mess.

12-16-09

Squirt arrived yesterday after a two-day delay in Colorado because of the snow. Tonight he cooked dinner and is making himself at home.

12-13-09

Dan finished painting the ceiling of the studio kitchen today. I finished painting the walls last night. It's less funky, for sure. A little more stoic but with some stuff on the shelves and a nice little rug, it will be perfect. Goes well with the rest of the room, as seen below. I wonder if I should paint the back of the shelving the trim color. Hmmmm...

Party tonight at the 7000+ sq. ft. home of my Dean. We had a good time and the house was great for large parties. Squirt is stuck in Colorado, no flights leaving any time soon. I am very anxious to have him home safe and sound.