What?! School Starts Tommorow!?
Topic: Family Business

We're as ready as we'll ever be for the end of long lazy days & late nights. Open house was last night at the elementary school & Lois actually came with us. In eleventh grade we're aparently mature enough to enjoy visiting our old alma mater! The visit with the teachers was uneventful. I have to feel for Cams teacher - she was Vals once too & judging by past years the school tries not to give my kids to the same teacher in a row because this school routinely asks for & gets 100% PTA participation per class But not the classes my kids are in ! I work until 8 at night & drive 45 minutes home so I don't participate in PTA. It's also an issue for me because nearly everyone went to school together & knows each other & I know no one & am anti social anyway!

End Saturday- On to Sunday

After getting back to Anns & puting her groceries away we had annother great dinner & then hung out just talking etc. We were supposed to get a fairly early start leaving Anns to go back to my mothers & meet up with my uncle who I have not seen in nearly 10 years. But I had developed a cold & was hacking & coughing & not sleeping too well- & the kids were up late playing video games- their internal clocks are set to night owl- I try at home to get up by 10 am on non work days & am still usually the first one up! By 930 though I had to get up & get them up the re-packing of the car was hanging over my head & so I rousted every one in my family & insisted they come help at the car packing. Once this was done we said our goodbyes to Ann & family headed back to my mothers place. The Sunday midday drive thru Boston was minimalized by taking 95 for a change of scencery I hadn't been on that road in nearly 10 years. I especially enjoy the part on the way into Boston where you are o!
n rte 1.

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Saturday continued

Where were we? Oh yes- BJ's with Ann- I spend at least $150. every 2 weeks as it is - Val & Cam are practically bottomless worse yet- they don't actually eat a lot at 1 time they eat often instead! Ann cooked out for us all 3 nights & refused most offers of help. I think after not having to go to work my favorite thing about being on vacation was not having to cook! It's funny how little I want to cook considering how much time I spent cooking as a teenager & young adult. Now I only want to cook about 3 or 4 times a month & thats even decreased in the summer! a tomato or cucumber, tuna fish or a bowl of microwaved frozen spinach is all I really want in the summer.I have to give Ann credit. While I could feed 12 & have done so before I'm so obsessive that I'd have made a menu & bought all the food which could be frozen a month in advance! & probably would have enough food for 3 extra meals! Ann made fast delicious food with only as much forethought as we had in the store buyi!
ng the food

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What Lois Did on her Summer Vacation...

Yes, she talked on the phone constantly. We didn't change our phone service to the national plan because it was too expensive for too few minutes. Also everyone had unlimited long distance & was very understanding about my daughter's psychotic need to talk to her boyfriend ALL the time! Friday night at Ann's was uneventful & pleasant. We hung out, checked email & she showed me this website of really cool plus size clothes callED: www.Torrid.com check it out if you're larger than a size 12. The original plan was for us to go to the beach but it was cool, rainy & just wasn't beach weather. So after getting washes going we went to the mall The mall at Portsmouth is huge & we onlx went through half of it. Then a quick stop at BJ'S On the way in we got caught in a large downpour & so we dripped through the store. Ann feeds 5 + her stepson part of the time & she spent a ton to keep them fed- even at BJs! I was impressed & a little scared for my future with my younger kids!

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The Rest of Friday.

At Kittery I also don't go to the lower level because thats where they keep the fly tying supplies & I have already spent entire lifetimes down there many times over, waiting for my Father & Brother.Though The Trading Post is not exactly chock full of stuff I want & need I don't go to Maine without stopping. After Kittery it was getting late & I didn't want to keep Ann's family waiting for dinner- I should have known they're more laid back about meal times than that! & a good thing too because I had not really thought about what day it was. There I was heading to the NH lakes region on a Friday night in the summer! The map book I had with me was woefully inadequate to say the least. It had roads listed which were not where they were shown & quite a few which I knew to exsist were not on the map! I suppose that for a dollar at Walmart you can't ask for much! But to find an underused road in the right general direction would have been lovely. As it was it was stop & go the who!
le way

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More On Friday.

My Mother & I aren't in touch with the fishing club guys at all anymore & I didn't want to trespass so the kids & I went to the river down the road to see if the area was more built up than before or not.It wasn't, but a problem I had been upset about years ago has been resolved near this river a bunch of ATVs & Dirt bikes had been riding around in there beside the river & tearing the woods up. They have fenced it off & put up a sign saying its off limits to motor vehicles but open to pedestrians. The kids were surprised that the water was so brownish red- it is the iron content in the water- here in VA the water is brownish green or full mud brown depending on how recently its rained! we got out & looked around.After we were done with that we went to Kittery & checked out a few of the outlet stores & of course the Trading Post- We checked out the gifty stuff but I didn't want to check out the camping supplies since we're not going to get to go camping this year- I'm sulking!
about it.

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Friday A Day in Maine.

Ann lives in New Hampshire near the Maine border. also near North Berwick where my Fathers fishing club has/had their camp. I wanted to check & see if it was still there or had been sold & knocked down to make room for condos!So after breakfast we went there. I had forgotten the zen of the NH highway system in which you get on a numbered road & follow it miles & miles just trusting that you're still on the right road & maybe every 15-20 miles if you are lucky you might see a road sign with the road's # on it to confirm that you're on the right road! You just have to trust.I trusted a little too much & ended up on the wrong road. So we had to back track to get to North Berwick - we came in through Sanford which was where we used to go to get groceries when I used to go there for weekends. So I had to drive a back road I hadn't been on in 10 years. But I found it just fine. & it looks just the same from the road- In the picture its barely visible- but its still there & still i!
n some use.

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Thursday Continued

{Yes, We are home Safe & Sound. I just don't have time to sit at the computer!} The resturant we went to with Jen was not spectacular. The food was mediocre at best & the service was just short of rude. The company was excelent though & I'm really hoping Jen & her husband will take me up on my invitation to come for a visit sometime soon.Then on to Ann's house. I was supposed to bring steak tips from Haverhill Beef but totaly spaced on it until we were way too far away to do anything about it! So not long after we arrived Ann & I went to the local store to get steak tips & for me to get the kids something for their breakfast- they're all constantly hungry.Ann pointed out that she had food for breakfast but I know how they are & sure enough they ate food she had & the pop tart bars too! We had a great time visiting & reminiscing about old times- Ann works early in the morning so we packed it in early. The kids bunked in the living room & I had Anns 3 season room all to mys!
elf.

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Thursday Transition from Haverhill to NH

We visited with Jen & her kids for a few hours. Her husband is a cop in the small town they live in & he stopped in to say hi too. Their kids were adorable & so funny to watch. the older,their girl, is 4. the younger is a boy & he's going on 2.He looks just like his dad & as for their 4 year old while she's got lighter hair than her mom did, there were certain characteristics that reminded me of the 4 year old Jen {we're 5 months apart in age & especially as preschoolers spent a LOT of time together} my -older than her's- kids were really enjoying playing with the kids they played a lot of hide & seek & it was funny watching Val helping the 2 year old up the stairs outside & in. When I figured Jen had probably had enough of the decibel levels our kids were playing at I said we'd get going. Jen asked if we had plans for lunch suggested we go out together. We went to a place in NH which was on our way to Anns house & on her way to her parents house where she had to go feed cat!
s.

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Monday- winding down to go home.

I always try to take the kids somewhere educational/interesting on our trips to MA.We have been to the Childrens museum- Plymouth Plantation & the Mayflower in other years. & The Boston Museum of Science 2 years ago. We were going to check out the Salem Witch museum. But it would have meant driving back up to Salem on the day before going back to VA & of course I didnt want to do that! My mother was not imterested in going & I had thought she was so right after we had arrived on the eleventh & discovered that she didn't want to acompany us Lois & I began tossing ideas around as to where we should go.The Aquarium was the hands down favorite!I was especialy exited to see an Imax film since the last time I'd seen one I was pregnant with Valerie! We picked the wrong day to take the subway but the right day to go to the Aquarium! It was beastly hot & the Boston subway system is not even remotely air conditioned! You are pushing it to even hope for an air conditioned train in Bost!
on!

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