The Random Dilettante

These things are very popular around NY it seems…at least upstate NY. Before moving here, I don’t think I’ve ever really seen or noticed one before, but here they are hard to overlook, homeowners every where have them adorning the peaks of their houses, or any number of other places.

Within a few days of meeting my neighbor upstairs, we were talking on her balcony, and she looked down to my front patio and said “I think we need to get you a barn star for that wall..”. She was speaking of a wooden divider like the one above that separates my patio from the next door neighbor. Anyway, I laughed and said, “What do they mean anyway? Or do they mean anything?” - She didn’t really know the answer, she just said she got one because she liked the way they looked.

Well me being me…liking the look or not..had to find out if there was a meaning behind it. I mean what if it stood for something I was totally against? I couldn’t have that..heh.

So the weekend before last when we were down in Alexandria Bay we found a little craft shop that sold them, and the lady at the counter looked real friendly, so I asked her. She told me they signified peace and joy. Which is totally cool…I can dig that. I went ahead and bought a green one that day for $23.

When my neighbor comes back from visiting her family (she left for 3 weeks) she’ll be proud…haha.

Oh yeah..and since getting my internet hooked up I googled it, and most sites said that now days the star meant good luck and good fortune…which of course I can dig too

Pretty soon I’m going to post some pictures of my front patio. You have NO IDEA how hard I’ve been working on it…I was outside all day Saturday (in the rain!) and all day Sunday slaving away. It’s almost done, and it’s getting so pretty..it’s going to be my little outside haven. I can’t wait until my neighbor comes back and we can sit out there and chill..it will be nice

PS- I realize I may be the only one out of the loop about the barn stars…but you know…just in case….I had to share! If any friends or family want one, just let me know too!

Ok, so this blogging thing and me haven’t been getting a long lately. Some of it has to do with the internet I’m using…errr…borrowing. The connectivity goes in and out so it gets on my nerves pretty quick. The cable guy comes on the 18th next week though, so I’m excited about that.

I’ve also been in a little bit of a funk, and trying not to think of what’s to come, i.e - sleeping in way to late, and being highly unproductive until about 4pm or later. My bed has been my haven lately. Bad, I know.

I was thinking about my recent blogging last night and I realized that I never mentioned how pretty NY is, or how I really do like it here. The tree’s here are endless, it’s gorgeous. The little town I live in is about 12 miles from Watertown, NY, which is where we go if we want to go to the mall, or Lowes, or any big store like that. The city of Watertown is a little run down, but it has a great strip for all your shopping needs. It’s funny though because even though it’s only 12 miles away, (20 miles to the main strip) it takes at least 35-40 minutes to get there because on the way from our town you hit 3-4 little towns and drive through them and have to slow down and all that. Plus it’s got these huge hills on the way, I have to downshift all the time, plus my ears need to pop at least 2 or more times. Awesome views though..you really can’t beat it. One of these days I’ll have to stop the car and take a pic.

Carthage is also about 8 miles from Fort Drum, and the way you have to drive to post is pretty cool too. The whole way I follow the Black River, it’s right next to the road, and a pretty big lake, so it’s definitely a nice little drive.

Oh! And the people in NY are soooo polite and friendly..it’s insane. I love it, but would have never expected it. They are all about customer service if your at a store or restaurant, and even your average person off the street seems very friendly and talkative..no matter where you go. Of course I’m speaking for Upstate NY, not the city, but still, for some reason, I didn’t expect it.

They blow people in the Midwest out of the water as far as friendliness and such - they all seem very down to earth.

Also! I think I failed to mention that before we left for NY, we traded in my Toyota Matrix for a 2006 Mazda 5. I was out at a Dollar General by Andrews grandma’s house and I saw it..and at first I though it was a Matrix, but then I looked a little closer, and it kind of was, but had way more cargo room than my car. When I went back to the house I half mentioned it to Andrew, and his ears perked up right away. He got on the net at his moms and searched for a Mazda dealer near her house. We went there that night just to look at them on the lot. The next day we went to talk to the dealer to see if trading in ours was an option..seeing I hadn’t even owned the Matrix for a year yet. We told them we just wanted to check into it and see if it was possible without making our payments any higher, and possibly lowering them.

Turns out it was possible, and my payment went down $20 a month, and I am now the proud owner of a wanna-be minivan. Gasp! It’s like a mini van…but not. It’s a mini version of a mini-van. hehe Oh, and I forgot to mention it’s a manual tranmission, so that’s another reason we saved money on it. I love driving a stick so I was all for it.

It was really nice for the trip up here, since we needed every bit of space we could get, it has a huge back cargo area, that is also a third row of seating if the seats aren’t folded down.

Anyway, I love it. It gets good gas mileage and everything. Soccor Mom here I come!! or not. haha.

Here’s some pics of it. These are some that I snatched off the web. My car looks the same though..color and all. The pics make it look like a full size mini van..but trust me it’s not. It’s pretty short in comparison.

OK, I better get going. I have more to say, but I don’t think it’s fair to put it all in one post..it might get a little long. Maybe if I blogged more than once a week I wouldn’t have this problem…hmmmmm. I make no promises though..but I’ll try

The following are blog entry’s that chronicle the mess I went through with my mother the year before she died…

Over the past few days I got some news that’s been a little unsettling. My mom died. I guess I’m still trying to process it, I have a lot of mixed feelings on the subject, and questions I would like to ask, but I’m not sure I really want the answers..etc..Etc..

During the day I’m fine, it’s when I try to close my eyes at night that it stings. But whatever, I’ll work through it.

At 29 both of my parents are dead. Who would have thought. In my head I just keep thinking..phase two…phase two…phase two..just move on..get on with it. Andrew says that’s cold hearted. I think it’s a survival instinct. All my life that’s what I’ve done. I hit a bump..a crash…it burns, it hurts, the pain is unavoidable, but none of that pain makes any of it go away, it fixes nothing. So I move on. Put it on the back burner, what else is there to do? Maybe it’s not the normal way of handling things, but it’s my way, and it hasn’t failed me before.

So anyway, I don’t really feel like talking more about Niagara Falls, but I still have a lot of nice pictures, so I think I’m going to open up a photo album of some sort where people can look at the pics if they want too. This weekend we went to Alexandria Bay and I got even more pictures that rock..and with all the cool places to go around here , getting good pics will probably be a trend, so starting an album seems like the thing to do.

Oh yeah..and yesterday was Audrey’s Birthday. She’s 3! We took her to Apple Bee’s and had them come clapping and singing to her…she loves to watch when they do it for other people, she even claps with them. When they came up to her with her cake, and candle..you should have seen the magic in her eyes. The girl was on cloud nine.

Also, at about 6pm last night I got cable. Yay! It’s fancy cable too, I love it. I got a DVR cable box, and I can pause live programming..record a show with a push of a button and watch it later..oh man..it’s nice. Last night I would have missed Big Brother because we were out to dinner…but nope..it was recording it for me..that and Rockstar Supernova. So finally at about midnight I sat down to watch them…and got to fast forward through the commercials. Hell yeah. It also has HBO on demand, so all the episodes I’ve been missing of Deadwood I can catch up on. You know I’m stoked.

And of course nothing beats having my highspeed internet again. Nope. Nothing.

Wow! Finally an update!! Sorry for the delay, I’ve just really had my hands full.

The cottage at Cape Vincent wasn’t too bad, it wasn’t too great either though. It heated up like the inside of an oven, even though outside it was nice..maybe it needed better insulation or something. But anyway, it was great for the price, and it was right across the street from the St. Lawrence River, so it had an awesome and peaceful setting, not too mention the towns people were unbelievably nice. We fell in love with Cape Vincent real quick actually. There was a house there that we were going to look into buying and everything.

Then came the day Andrew came home from work (about 4 days after we arrived in Cape Vincent) and asked me to come outside to look at the water..although when he said it I knew better..something about the tone in his voice. I could tell he just wanted to tell me something without the kids around.

Of course when that happens it’s usually not good news, and this time was no exception. He had found out that afternoon that he would be shipping out for
Afghanistan in about 3 weeks. His eyes had tears in them when he told me…

So of course it tore me up pretty bad. So much for some normalcy in life. We will have him for about 2 months again, and then have to say good bye yet again. What really sucks is that these haven’t even been a normal 2 months. It’s been full of moving and sleeping everywhere else but our bed. Ah well…I will just hang my head on the subject for now.

We did get lucky and we came right up on the housing list though. We were spoiled at Fort Riley, so the new place isn’t near as nice and as well built, but it’s not too bad either. They look a lot like the townhouse we used to live in, except we have people living above us now. We didn’t used to have to worry about our neighbors because we were on the end, and none of our walls were even shared with the people next to us, so I could blast some music without a care. The family that lives above us is really really cool though. Her husband is in Afghanistan right now too. Andrew might actually be working right next door to him..her husband is a W-3 (Warrant Officer 3). Anyway, she’s very nice, and we have a lot in common I think, and so far it’s been great. I will have a nice ally once Andrew is gone. Russ Ann (that’s her name) also has a 10 yr old & a one year old, both girls. So her daughter and Taylor have hit it off real nice. Taylor is one of those people that makes making friends look real easy. It’s hard to find someone that doesn’t like her. Her one year old is just as cute as can be too..we got real lucky to have such awesome neighbors.

Anyway, we were at our new place in Carthage, New York, for about a week before our stuff could be delivered..it was all just delivered WED of this week. I was buried in boxes until late last night. Most all of them have been emptied, and now it’s just a matter of putting everything in it’s place. Right now it’s just a little cluttered, but by tonight it should be looking pretty nice. One thing about our new place is that it has a lot more room then our old one. We have a HUGE master bedroom and a really roomy living room. We have really big furniture and an even larger entertainment center..so it works out real nice.

The movers lost our bed frame (I know! How in the hell do you lose a bed frame?!) but it worked out all right. We went and got a head board and foot board and before we didn’t have either, so it looks really cool. Before our stuff came we went to Walmart to buy a smaller desk than we had before because it was HUGE, and it’s going to be in our bedroom here, so we needed a smaller one..anywho..we got a decent sized one that wasn’t so big, and also ended up getting matching side tables (that double as filing cabinets if you wanted them too) and a matching dresser. Our bedroom looks really cool with everything, we’ve never had matching side tables and stuff..and they blend in real well with the head board. All for under $400, and for a bedroom set, you can’t beat that. Good quality sturdy stuff too When we get everything up on the walls I will have to take a pic and post it.

We also painted the girls rooms while we were waiting for our stuff. Taylor’s room is “icewater” blue to match an electric blue comforter she got for her birthday. It’s pretty wild, but looks pretty hip and young. Her windows have white and black sheer curtains..it’s cool.

Audreys room is a pretty pastel green color. I put a bamboo roman shade up in her window, and we painted her daybed that my mother in law gave us white..before it was black. So everything looks very fresh and spring like in her room. It’s cute.

Anyway I don’t know why I went into all the decorating stuff, but I did. You can deal, right?

Right now I am stealing someone’s unsecured wireless network and using the laptop. (shhhhh!) it takes the cable company out here FOREVER to come turn on your stuff. They won’t be out until the 18th, so for now this is working. I’m beyond happy that I’m able to get online and didn’t have to wait another 3 weeks. I haven’t had much time to sit on here much, but it’s nice to know the option is out here, ya know?!

OK, I better get going and get the ball rolling. I’ve missed blogging and getting my thoughts down, so I’m glad to be back

I will try my best to not dwell on Andrews deployment and write a whole bunch of depressing posts. It’s best to focus on the positive things I suppose..there are plenty of those around too.

More tomorrow! And maybe some pics Hopefully I haven’t lost all my readers!