Whoa Baby!

Addison Lila is a tiny, perfect little thing. Though we had a whirlwind trip to NY, we were able to spend many hours holding this 6lb 8oz. baby who is barely as long as Bryan's forearm. We loved every minute.

Proud big sister, Lauren

Some day she'll be able to hold Uncle Bryan's hand

And, I had a chance to brush up on my fairy tales as I told one after another to Lauren. I realized 1/2 way through "Jack & the Beanstalk" that I had no idea what Jack takes each time from the giant. I had a vague notion of a goose that laid golden eggs and a magic harp, but I had to throw in a giant apple and a stylish hat to complete the story. And, as I sent Jack down the beanstalk with the giant hot on his heels, and he started chopping it down, I realized that I had to dispose of the giant somehow. As I explained that the giant fell off the stalk and bumped his head, thereby knocking him out, Lauren helped me with, "the giant was dead." Yeah, the giant was dead. Fairy tales are pretty dark and you have to have a solid 4-year-old heart to stomach them.

Undeafeated dream dashed

Undeafeated kickball dream that is. Last night's game delivered "Rick is 21" its first loss of the season. It was an ugly loss, filled with some shoddy fielding and a blown call (or 3). In our normal vein of "taking this a bit too seriously", Bryan spent most of the post-game drinking hours at $3 Dewey's discussing the perfect line-up and strategies to help people with base running, and I eagerly await hearing what that line-up will be.

Trivia and a Baby

This week's trivia started out with a bang. Our team tied for the top spot in the first round (there are 6 total) and we felt confident that this was the night that we could take the whole thing. However, we missed a few we should have gotten and totally tanked in the last round and finished 6 points behind the leaders, getting a 42 (out of 60).

Some of the questions I took:
*Stauffer’s is owned by what corporation?
*Who was the first author to write a novel about invaders from another planet?

Some we should/could have gotten:
*How many lives does a cat have?
*What is the most common dog name in America?
*What is the name for a positive electrode?
*What American president started the Peace Corps (I was the one who argued for the wrong answer for this one)?
*Spending 22 hours of the day asleep, what is the laziest animal?

Clearly we need a zoologist or Nature Channel-watcher on our team.

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In exciting family news, we have a new niece, Addison Lila. She was born Wednesday morning at 8:30 AM and weighed in at 7 pounds. Her big sister, Lauren, chose her middle name and contrary to popular culture, Addison’s parents do not have cable and watch zero tv so I don't think it's an homage to “Grey’s Anatomy” – they just really liked the name. We head to New York on Friday to meet her.

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Answers:
Nestlé
H.G. Wells
1, yes we put 9 against Bryan's better judgement – drat trick questions
Max
anode
John F. Kennedy (I could have sworn it was LBJ)
koala bear

Huh?!

I swore I could hear sea gulls when I woke up this morning. And not just sea gulls flying over head, but sea gulls diving and circling and talking to one another. Now, we live in Maine and the ocean is close, but it's not across the street or anything. The sound was so realistic and, well, loud, that I got out of bed and looked out my window. And, yes, there were sea gulls everywhere, having a gull party with our trash. At first I was mad, but then I thought, wow, there are sea gulls in my front yard. Kind of cool. Course, we're gonna put the trash in a bucket with a lid from now on, but I like living close enough to the Atlantic that my trash invites a sea bird breakfast meeting.

Project Shave

This weekend brought the hubby home from his UW conference in Pittsburgh. Though the weather was anything but summer-like, he had decided to shed the winter fur from his face. I took a series of photos that can be seen in my Snapfish album of Project Shave. I did date this man without a beard, but I hadn’t realized how very used to the scruff I had become. I now look 10 years older than him, but he is enjoying the feel of the wind on his face.

A sampling:

Before

Rocking 1972

The used car salesman/child molester look

After:my 18-year-old man

Day of Caring

Deciding to move to Maine was not a quick and easy process. We struggled with what we wanted out of community and what kind of life we ultimately wanted to live. We had a short list of places that we could move; this list took into account proximity to family/friends, political & cultural climate, cost of living, and employment opportunities. Ultimately, we moved Portland to the top of the list and Bryan found a great job at the United Way. This job has brought with it great community contacts and even a job for me as I wait for my own job to start in August. Through the UW, we have made some great friends and I have really learned about the kind of impact an organization can have on its community.

Yesterday, I took part in the Day of Caring, a day when dozens of businesses “loan” volunteers to non-profit agencies to help get stuff done, stuff that could not otherwise get done due to the high cost of hiring outside help. I went to a local nursery school where I helped mulch, weed, and shovel topsoil. The school had donations of plants and mulch, and needed many hands to plant and spread. I worked with volunteers from 2 local businesses, Hannaford and UNUM, along with a few parent volunteers and a nice group of seniors from Cheverus High School who have a community-service requirement to fulfill before they can graduate. It was an interesting cross-section of people who came together to make sure that the children attending the school had a safe & beautiful playground and garden.

Over 900 volunteers helped at over 55 organizations. That's a lot of caring.

Trivia

Every Tuesday night we play trivia at Ri Ra's in the Old Port. This week, with da husband (yes, one of our co-workers has a Maine accent and actually says "da wife") out of town at a UW conference in Pittsburgh, our team was down a geography/sports expert, but still managed to hold our own, finishing with a 38 (the winners had 43).
Questions I took on solo:
*What popular animated series has the characters Dizzy, Scoop & Muck?
*What automobile was the Porsche the sporty version of?

Questions I should have known the answer to, but for some reason couldn't come up with an answer:
*What is the name of the bank in the Harry Potter books?
*What actor was in both "The Magnificent Seven" and "The Dirty Dozen"?
*What is the nationality of Kofi Annan's wife?

Answers below.

I heart trivia. And one of these weeks our team will win.

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This week has also brought the purchase of some Mary Kay products. Yes, I might officially be my mother. A friend is selling the stuff so I had to go hear the pitch over some pizza and wine (essential fortifications when talking about beauty products). At some point, the products jumbled together in a swirling pink cloud around my head until the smell of moisturizer, both with SPF and without, caused me to pass out. Two hours later, my face glowing with tinted facial hydrating gel and my checkbook one short, I left with some hand cleanser and a revitalizing face mask. Could have been so much worse.

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Answers:
Bob the Builder
The VW Beetle
Gringotts
Charles Bronson
Swedish

A Little Politics

Jerry Falwell is dead. Now who's gonna monitor children's television for transsexuals and blame gays and abortionists for terrorist attacks??

What a better world we might be living in if people like Falwell hadn't started preaching their brand of "Christian love." Funny how the loudest voices shouting about "living life like the Bible says" have become the biggest hate-mongers out there. I'm pretty sure that Jesus preached tolerance, acceptance and loving other people, no matter what. The Christian right only wants to love people who believe as they do and can only tolerate those who shun anyone who might actually want to decide for themselves how to live their lives. Rest in pieces, JF.

Things I like about Maine

And when I say Maine, I guess I mean Portland, where I live. I haven’t actually been north of Freeport yet and I understand that there is quite of bit of state north of Freeport. So, for now, I will report on what I know.

Beer. All of it. Microbreweries abound here and almost all of the beer that I have sampled has been tasty. I have always liked Shipyard, which I could find in the Boston area, but I like Geary’s and Gritty’s and Casco Bay and Sebago and Allagash. And those are just the ones I’ve tried. Again, I’ve heard that the central & northern parts of the state have more brewpubs. Wow.

Niceness. Yup, just niceness. Never knew I was missing it until I moved to a land where people are considerate and friendly. Granted, there are cranky people here (after all, there are lots of former Massachusettsians here), but even I find myself a little less crusty and suspicious in my adopted state. This newly acquired niceness of mine does get suspended when I get in my car, but that’s a post for another day.

And I’ll leave you with one more:
Moose. A large and fabled creature. I’ve heard tell that these animals are magnificent. I haven’t actually seen one, but I know they live here and that I might and that ain’t half bad.

MAINE!

So, I've moved to Maine. I'm a Mainer. I'm pretty happy about this although there are days when I shake my head in wonder at the circumstances which have brought me north, a direction in which I never would have predicted I would go upon marrying my cold-hating husband.

This blog will chronicle life here in Maine, the ups and downs of living in a state known more for its hunting gear and conservative politics than for its lively culture. Stay tuned...