The Barn Collective

 The "other barn" from last week's drive down Old State Rd in Angelica, NY. (I played with the picture a little bit. Warmed it up a tad.) This one looks pretty much abandoned, it's square silo missing a cap and the windows boarded up or broken out. I desperately wanted to get out of the car and peer through the windows but resisted the urge.

This barn and the one I posted last week were likely standing when my father was a small boy 90 years ago. I wonder to whom they once belonged?

It's Sunday Again

It's been a relaxed weekend. Yesterday I ordered the paneling for my room. Sergio and Carlos went to retrieve it from Lowes in the afternoon. I'm excited to see how the room looks and feels when it's all put back together again.

The checklist of catch-up doctor appointments continues. I have an appointment tomorrow for a precautionary ultrasound, a date for the dreaded colonoscopy, and a double-recommended dentist to contact tomorrow as well. Two totally unconnected friends named this particular guy and nobody recommended another. I'll be paying the dentist out of pocket but I'd rather have one who comes highly recommended. (Call me foolish but it feels better this way.) 

Three of my pottery cousins attended NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) in Cincinnati this past week. I could have gone along but I chose to save the money ($300) and my vacation days. It sounded like so much fun but I just couldn't justify it at the moment. I'm hoping we have time for some local festivals this year instead. (And I signed up for another class... Yikes!)

The Barn Collective and Pancakes Too

It was time to change the clocks back an hour. To celebrate this momentous occasion I stayed overnight with my sister Priscilla. We rose before the crack of dawn and set off in the dark for Cartwright's Maple Tree Inn in Angelica, NY. There was already a line to get inside but it wasn't extraordinarily long. We enjoyed a fabulous breakfast of eggs, buckwheat pancakes with real maple syrup, and coffee (which we sweetened with maple syrup too). 

It is quite literally impossible for either my sister or me to leave the Angelica area without driving through town, around Park Circle, and past the house where Great grandma Shafer lived with Uncle Leo. 

Angelica and the surrounding towns, once dotted with small, working farms like those of my great grandparents and great uncles, the area is now home to a rather robust community of Amish families. We passed several buggies with families on their way to Meeting. We waved at each other as we drove past. I saw them smile and I was smiling too.

I left my camera back at Priscilla's house (thought of it on our way through the darkness) so I took a few pictures with my phone instead. It's a handy backup when I don't have the real thing along.

I'm joining you today, Tom.

The Day in Three Parts

Part One- I went to work but when I arrived the coworker who unlocks the door was nowhere to be seen. I sent a text to my boss who called said coworker and discovered her phone had somehow been set to read nearly 5:30 am instead of 6:30. While we waited for her to arrive, another coworker and I let parents know she was running late. I offered to let a few kids wait in my car so their moms could get to work on time. One accepted the offer and two little boys and I waited together. Soon the besmirched coworker came speeding up the road. She was mortified. She was embarrassed. She was swearing. She was all apologies. 

Part Two- The police found my son's car today. The thieves, desiring only a momentary thrill, crashed it. This has been the practice regarding many stolen Kias and Hyundais. It's rather sickening.

Part Three- We're having another weekend winter storm. March never fails to deliver when it comes to a late winter blizzard.

Mediocrity, and Bucket Lists

I've come to the not-so-very-surprising conclusion that I have settled for mediocrity. In an effort to be content, which is a good thing, I have not chased after my own goal and ambitions, which is a bad thing. Rather than keeping my eyes on the goals, I have lost sight of them altogether, if I ever had my sights on them in the first place.

What did I want to be when I was a little girl? Was I ever encouraged to be anything other than a wife and mother? What DOES my heart desire? So many questions and so very few answers...

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I am checking doctor appointments off my list; physical, mammogram, gynecologist... (Once upon a time I kept up with doctor appointments and then our insurance became to expensive to maintain and we went without for years.) I'm told it's time for a colonoscopy, and I have a number to call but haven't set up the appointment yet. Maybe tomorrow. I saw the OB/GYN today. He's the same guy that delivered my last two babies and was my doctor for the last four. His hair used to be brown. Now it short and white... It's been about 36 years since I first started seeing him. He wants me to have an ultrasound so I'm adding an unexpected appointment to the list.

I should probably find a new dentist too. The dentist terrifies me. I literally cry when it's time to go. (I once went nearly 20 years without going... Now it's been  probably six.) I still have all my teeth, so there's that. 

The hair... It's long. I haven't had it cut in over a year. Almost a year and a half. My sweet, beautiful hair dresser passed away just after Christmas. I drove an hour to have Amanda cut my hair. She was worth the drive, always smiling, always encouraging, always making me feel beautiful... Amanda. Forever beautiful, forever young, forever missed. Maybe someday I'll get my hair cut again, but it isn't in the plan anytime soon.

One of my sons can cross "have my car stolen" off his bucket list. Ugh! I saw the door cam video. They smashed the back window, climbed in and drove away. Just like that. Yup, it was a Kia. Makes my heart hurt. The bright spot is he took his basket of dirty laundry back inside the house last night "for some reason."

Start ... Stop

I've started a few new posts only to stop and never publish them. There's been a lot going on in my mind, but not much time to process everything, When thoughts come out chopped up and lumpy, rather than smooth and flowing (which sounds like vomit either way...), I have a tendency to drop them into the draft folder rather than hit the publish button.

Our little guy ended up in the hospital last week. He ate something that didn't agree with his system and couldn't stop throwing up. He lost all his color and his lips were blueish white. Hannah was freaking out inside while doing all the right things on the outside. She called the after hours number for the doctor, got hold of me (I was out with a friend in the village), and then they rushed off to the nearest emergency room. I stayed with Idris and got him on the school bus the next morning before going to work myself. 

After the hospital fiasco we were hit with the stomach bug. For some unknown reason I am typically able to fend off these illnesses without ever puking. My stomach was "off" but I didn't actually get sick. 

On Friday I made a visit to a new doctors office, the second in a month's time. My old doctor's office knocked me out of the practice for not having an appointment for over three years, so I returned to a practice in the village of Webster where I submitted blood work and then had a physical on February 6. A week ago a friend suggested he was not a very reputable physician and suggested another practice. Since she had once worked for the other doctor, I took her advice. The new office has a much better feel. I am getting my medical records in order, and scheduling appointments and overdue tests.

The upstairs bedroom is not finished yet. The insulation has been replaced but we have yet to purchase paneling. 

The mind is still tumbling... I still have blogs to write but they're still "cooking."