To continue where I left off, June was much less hectic. I had more time at home, but was secretly planning a surprise 40th birthday bash for Mike. His birthday fell on Father's Day this year, which was great for me because I love any excuse to keep myself completely occupied on Father's Day since my Dad passed away. It also happen to overlap with the big cub scout family camp out that weekend. The plan was to have him come home to a house full of family and friends for a big BBQ (we like BBQs, can you tell? LoL) In the middle of planning I had a fun little weekend road trip down to Chantilly, Virginia to teach at Scrapbooks Plus again. Great store and it's becomming a regular for me...love hanging out with Debbie (the owner) while I'm there. Hoping to be back down in Novemeber again!
So anyway, the planning for the party was in full swing as was Mike's planning for the camp out. His mind was occupied which was good for me! I actually managed to keep it a secret, which is a challenge for me...he knows me too well. The day before the camp out started, I suddenly realized how high the grass was in our yard! It was bad and very ignored. I started dropping hints to prompt him to cut the grass but it wasn't happening and I'm a little dangerous on the giant tractor thing that takes over most of my garage to tackle it myself. He was too overwhelmed with the camp out details since he was in charge. Finally I started to get a little pushy about the lawn...too pushy, it gave me away. I normally couldn't care less about how high the lawn is, especially since i know how much it annoys the nasty neighbor behind us! (LOL - is that terrible of me? ) Anyway he was on to me and the surprise was off but I did get him to mow the lawn : )
The camp out was a blast. I was volunteered to be in charge of crafts. My lovely husband came home from work Friday with a pile of cardboard and said, "we are having a knights of the road table theme - can you design and cut out swords and shields for Saturday morning?" (This was around 4:30 Friday afternoon) I said sure, how many? "40-50" he said!!! Was he crazy?!?! I ended up ditching the sheilds because there was NO WAY I was going to get that all done by 8am the next morning. So I sat up until 4am like a good crafty mom cutting out 40 big cardboard swords for them to cover with tinfoil and decorate the next morning. The kids had a blast, the dad's took over as my class helpers... which was fun to see all of these dads being crafty with their sons. And I got a little bit of revenge on Mike during their sword fight when I yelled to the boys..."Get CubMaster Mike!!!" hee hee - they chased him all over the park attacking him with those swords as I giggled : )
I came back that night for dinner and the campfire/ceremony where all of the boys move up to the next level. Mike does a big presentation and tries to make it like Survivor with tiki torches and all. I was pretty impressed with him, I have to say. He used to be pretty shy believe it or not, but this has really brought him out of his shell. I think he's really having more fun than Ryan sometimes! LOL After dinner the boys all sang happy birthday to Mike...it was a good day.
The birthday BBQ was great, but not as many people as I was hoping. I think having it on Father's Day may not have been the best idea, but it was still fun.
In all of my running around and planning, guess what I forgot to buy...yup - candles. I'm such a flake sometimes. But, at least I found one lone candle stuffed in my kitchen junk drawer, so that worked!
The best surprise for him was that I got his friend Jeff there. Jeff is married to my cousin Sue, who has been my best friend since I was born. Jeff and Mike were best friends so that's how we actually met. They were the maid of honor and best man at our wedding and Mike lived with them for years. We don't get to see them as much as we'd like now, especially jeff because he works weekends, so Mike's face was priceless when Jeff pulled up to the party. He totally wasn't expecting it and I was happy I at least kept something a secret from him...look at how happy he was : ) That totally made his day!
That week we also had Maya's Kindergarted graduation...well, more of a show and party than a graduation, but she looked so cute. It was a big deal because Miss Vasilenko, her teacher was also retiring from teaching.
OK, so those of you who love Twilight will understand this...my favorite day of the whole month...I have been waiting for this all year and had it blocked off in my date book since the date was announced...ECLIPSE!!!! Woo hoooooo!!!! I bought tickets for my friend Carrie and I about 2 weeks in advance. We went at midnight when it opened like 2 teenage girls and loved every minute of it! We figured we would leave here around 10pm to get a good seat - but we were SOOOO off! We arrived an hour and a half before the movie was to start only to see the line FROM THE HIGHWAY wrapped completely around the building!! It was playing in 15 out of 16 theaters and it was a mob scene! This movie theater is huge and the line was literally 6 people wide and wrapped all the way around to the front again...it was crazy!! We felt like we were tailgaiting for a Bon Jovi concert at Giant Stadium! (OK, showing my age now, lol) We stood there giggling about it all in anticipation. Finally we made it around to the lobby where they set us loose! They seriosuly just said pick any of the 15 theaters! We split up and RAN in and out of every theater - which of course were all just about filled with only the first few rows open. Finally I got seats in the 3rd row of one of the theaters and we settled in with excitement. Definitely my favorite of the 3 movies!! It was worth every minute of the wait : )
So that was June in a nutshell...
This month I had an awesome road trip planned! I have always wanted to see more of New England and I had an opportunity to teach for a couple of fabulously hysterical store owners in New Brunswick Canada, so I mapped out a great itinerary. I started at one of my favorite stores, Ink About It in Westford, Massachussetts. Love, love, love these inky ladies and was so happy to see my friend Raine for the day who took me to Salem last Fall the last time I taught there...Did you ever meet someone who you feel like you have been friends with your entire life? That's Raine. We hit it off immediately and she's one of the most interesting people I have ever met - great lady! It's one of the main reasons I love traveling all over and teaching so much, I get to meet people like this and make new friends that I might never have known otherwise.
I jumped out of bed early the next morning and headed up to Canada!! I drove the entire length of Maine and was simply giddy knowing that I had a day off to spend here on the way back! What a beautiful state. This is when my weird little obsession started...I spotted my first moose crossing sign!!!!
I forgot there were moose up here and I wanted to see one...REALLY bad!! I seriously flipped in to full scrapper mode and pulled off 95 to take a picture of the sign and my camera stayed right next to me the entire trip...just in case I spotted the real thing. Instead of playing "name that roadkill" as I usually do to occupy my time while I'm driving by myself on these long road trips, I was frantically scanning the woods on both sides of the highway for moose. I drove in the slow lane ready to pull over at any second the entire rest of the trip! LOL
I made it through the border without a hitch then all hell broke loose as soon as I crossed in to Canada. My GPS, who I rely on more than I usually admit went all wonky on me! (I said "who" instead of which because her voice has become my friend and travel companion. We even fight sometimes, lol) The arrow that represents my car simply seemed to suddenly go off-roading on the screen. I was on a huge highway going over giant mountains in the middle of wilderness and my GPS decided I was on a road that didn't exist (yes, I had it in canadian mode) and kept insisting that I make a right turn...except there was nowhere to turn and there were cliffs on either side of me...great!
So I decided to call the girls at the store to make sure I was on the right track. I had planned on being there almost 2 hours early to have time to settle in and unpack, when Alyssa mentioned to me that I would be there about a half hour before the first class started. I didn't think I was that far away...I google mapped it all out after all. What I didn't even think about was that there was a time difference!! AAAgh!! So I picked up the pace over the mountains hoping my GPS would find me and eventually it did. I arrived in Fredericton and as soon as I saw Alyssa and Luanna, the giggle fest began! Seriously, these two are the funniest people I have ever met in my life and together, they are a riot! I laughed until I had tears streaming down my face more than once.
What I loved the most about this store visit was that they decided to do it as a whole weekend event so I was with all of these fantastic ladies for the entire weekend and felt like I really got to know them and made some good friends. The store was great, New Brusnwick is beautiful, but it was the people there that truly blew me away. So friendly and funny...I was sad when I had to leave. Just so genuine...wonderful people to be with. We had so much fun!
One of my favorite moments (one that I will never forget) was when one of my students shared with us that she was an opera singer...I won't tell you which one because she will probably kill me. We were there late chatting after class and we begged her to sing. I asked her to sing Ave Maria, which I have always thought was one of the most beautiful songs ever made, and she did! Oh - My - God!!!! I have never heard talent like this in all my life. Her voice was like an angel's and truly brought Luanna and I to tears. I was completely humbled that she would share this with me and in awe of her beautiful voice. It was beyond words and I was speechless - and for those of you who I have met in person - you know that I am never at a loss for words, LOL. If you are reading this, thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your unbelievable talent with me - I truly believe you need to come and try out for the NY Opera, I would be in the front row! I am almost in tears now just reliving that moment...wow!
The entire weekend we had an ongoing discussion about my quest to see a moose. The ladies all laughed over my obsession. The last day, some of the ladies felt bad that I hadn't seen one during my trip so they gave me this so I could at least scrap about it...so sweet! Have I mentioned how much I love Canadians?
OK, so this is where the story starts to really get funny. The last day of classes, Luanna planned a dinner for us at her home. Admittedly, she scared me a little the first night because she asked me if I would try anything if she promised to tell me what it was AFTER...LOL Oh boy! She was cracking me up about it all weekend. I knew her husband was a hunter so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But, it was time to relax, unwind and enjoy my last night with my new hysterical friends so I was up for anything.
Turns out the first course included moose meat...Yup, Moose meat. To my surprise, it was really good, after I got the Bullwinkle visions out of my head, LOL. Like beef but just a little different. She thought it would be very funny to get a picture with the the stuffed moose on my shoulder, a Moosehead Beer in my hand while I was eating moosemeat...told you she was funny!
With that she takes the biggest Bay of Fundy Lobsters I have ever seen out of the oven - HOly COW! they were HUGE and SO sweet...I
was in chubby girl heaven! I even got a full crash course on how to
properly eat a whole lobster (which I desperately needed but I won't share those pictures - their not pretty, lol)
At one point when, Luanna was showing me how to crack the little legs to get the meat out when suddenly mine cracked in 3 pieces and the middle shell flew clear across the table and landed on her plate - more giggling. I couldn't do that again if I tried!
After dinner her husband whips out this bottle of Canadian Maple Syrup flavored whiskey - a dangerous addition to add in to the mix of all the laughing that was already going on. The shot glasses came out (I barely even drink at weddings and New Years so this was going to be interesting!)
Somehow, after 2 or 3 shots of this yummy stuff, we got back on the moose conversation (I told you I was obsessed). I not only discovered that there was a moose CALL, but that Luanna's husband knew how to do it!!! We begged him to teach me how to do it. So off we went to their deck at midnight which backs up to the woods. It was pouring rain and we were huddling under their canopy doing moose calls towards the woods...I think I was pretty good at it if I don't say so my self : ) Of course, i was under the influence of some serious Maple Syrup Whiskey, so I may be wrong, but either way it was fun and way beyond fun! We had a ball doing moose calls. i think I even offered him $100 at one point if he could call in a moose so I could see one. I was desperate but still no sightings though unfortunately : )
I slept in a little later than I planned the next morning (I wonder why...LOL) but I had the day off to explore St Andrew and Bar Harbor so it was all good. I said my good-byes to Alyssa, who I was staying with, and headed for the highway that everyone had been telling me was notorious for moose. So much so that they put up moose fence on both sides of the highway. I was ready with my camera and confident I was going to finally see my moose! I drove really slow down the road desperately searching the sides of the road for any sign of them. This was the only "sign" I saw... you can see the moose fencing in the background!
I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but I saw a good swampy area and I pulled over. It looked like the perfect place for a moose or 2 to be hanging out. I turned off my engine, opened my windows and sat there for a few minutes with my camera ready...just in case. Nothing. It was still early and the highway was totally empty and I decided to try something. Yup, I pinched my nose and remembered what I was taught the night before. I sat in my car doing my best moose calls!! Still nothing and I was disppointed. Maybe I wasn't as good as I thought or maybe it was the maple syrup whiskey that made it good, but I finally gave up. After all I was really being a stupid ass because I know they can be dangerous. I figured I deal with black bears all the time, how scary could an overgrown deer be? LOL I know - stupid. Probably better off that I didn't see any because I tend to get a little overly brave around animals...like I'm Grizzly Adams or something. LOL! I giggled to myself all the way to St Andrew - which was beautiful by the way! I spent about an hour there and started to make my way to the border. I drove along the coast admiring the scenery. it really is so gorgeous there.
I couldn't help but think on my drive to Maine that the whole North east - I mean above Massachussetts maybe - is just such a cool combination. Like Cape Cod meets the mountains. Ocean and pine tree forests. The perfect blend of Moose and Lobster! I even bought a magnet in Bar Harbor of a moose in a rain coat holding a lobster. It just so perfectly summarized the feeling. I could seriously see myself living in New England.
For some reason, Bar harbor maine has always been in my top 3 places I have always wanted to see in the states (the other 2 are the Grand Canyon and the giant redwood forests near San Fransisco). I didn't really know why, but I'm so glad I took a day off to explore. It was beyond what I expected and I have found my new favorite vacation spot!
I did a little souvenier shopping, took a TON of pictures, texted Mike pictures along the way because he would have absolutely loved it there. He doesn't understand the need to go to New England (I've been badgering him for years to go to Cape Cod) when we live so close to the Jersey Shore...he doesn't get it. There's no comparison and I was on a mission to show him why. I took a drive through Acadia National Park and made it to the top of Cadillac mountain just in time for the sunset. It was spectacular!
The pictures don't even do it justice. At the top of the mountain I was actually above the clouds over looking the ocean. I got out of the car at the top, found a rock near the cliff and just sat there for a little while enjoying the view and the unbelievably fresh ocean air and just took it all in until the sun went down. Beautiful and so worth it!
I taught at 2 more stores on the way home. Silver Fox Stamps in Winslow Maine was first. The creativity there was phenominal and Sheila was an awesome lady and host.
Next was Heartfelt Memories in Brattleboro, Vermont. I think I was starting to get tired by this point because I forgot to take pictures, but it was another great store. She had an incredible inky mix of unique products that I loved!
I took a few detours on my way home. I had actually never been to Vermont so I explored a little before I headed home. I came across this covered bridge which was so cool
So pretty...
So I finally made it home, snuggled with the kids for a day and then went back up to Conneticut on Saturday to teach at Inspiration Station for the day...AWESOME store! I was a bit crabby though when my air conditioner in my car decided to start blowing out luke warm air on one of the hottest days of the year, but I guess it got a serious work out during the week before so I can't complain too much, lol.
On the way home, I met one of my best inky friends, Sally Lynn MacDonald for dinner and we had a great night catching up. It was the perfect end to a perfect week!
So now that I am feeling accomplished and all caught up on my last 2+ crazy months, I can't feel my wrist anymore from typing so much! LOL Off to bed to watch True Blood that Mike recorded for me while I was blogging : )
jen
