Vacation Day Memories

Story of the Day
We went over to Matt, Emily, and Eli's house for a wonderful dinner of baked ziti, salad, garlic bread, and cupcakes.  After Eli had his "tubby" he was crawling around on the living room floor in his birthday suit -- a calculated parental risk.  Emily was in the kitchen, Matt and Lew were chatting, and I was watching Eli play with some toys.  He was on one end of the living room, I on the other.  When I began to act frantically, Lew expected to see me running to grab Eli out of harm's way.  Instead I went in the opposite direction!  As I said, letting a baby crawl around naked is a calculated risk... one that did not pay off in this instance.  (I watched him do "number two," by the way.)

Photo of the Day
Me, Lew, and the Atlantic Ocean.  :)

More of the Vacation Song

We're on vacation!
We're on vacation!....

Slept in a bit this morning.
Ate breakfast.
Took a walk.
Read a bit.
Watched some of the Olympics.
Ate a little.
Slept a little.
Took another walk.
Watched some more of the Olympics.
Ate dinner.

Expectation for the remainder of the evening:
Read a little, watch a little, read a little, watch a little,
Read, read, read,
Read alot,
Watch a little more!
(With my apologies to The Music Man.)

We're on vacation!
We're on vacation!

The Eagle Has Landed

I went to a Court of Honor ceremony after church. Fellow-Batgirl Krista's younger son achieved the Boy Scouts of America level of Eagle Scout earlier this year. Today's ceremony was in recognition of his achievement.

Congratulations to Matthew, a deserving Eagle Scout!

The Vacation Song, Verse 2

Second verse; same as the first:

We're on vacation!
We're on vacation!
We're on vacation!
Everybody sing The Vacation Song!

We are now in the second of Lew's three vacation weeks.  (The third will be the last week of August.)

Breakfast out this morning, a little bit of shopping, a lovely walk on the beach, a yummy steak dinner, and a birthday party for a new little friend.... It was a great way to start vacation!

My Take on the Bat Incident

I needed Lew to write yesterday's post because I did not witness most of the excitement surrounding the presence of the bat.

Although I was the first to see the bat flying around and around our bedroom, I pretty much "hid" the rest of the time.  I was either under the covers or squealing on the floor with my eyes shut.  (For some reason, I felt the bat would not attack me if I wasn't able to see it.)

I did not see Lew swinging his pillow or the tennis racket.

I did not see Jerry pounce on the bat.

I DID hear lots of screaming... which was coming from me.

If Jerry is "Superkitty", then I am "Scaredy-cat!"

(Postscript:  We still have no idea how the bat entered the house.  My mother is blaming it on my sister Kim, who is now home in Illinois.  Why didn't she take the bat with her?)

Superkitty

I had what I hope is a "once in a lifetime" experience last night.  I asked Lew to write an account of it.  So here's Lew, in his own words:

The lights are out except for Tracy’s Kindle lamp, I am drifting off to snoozeville, and then suddenly a bat starts flying around in our bedroom.

 

Our brave kitty is not in the room.  Tracy pulls the covers over her head, I close the door (so the bat doesn’t get out of our room) and start trying to knock the bat out of the air with my pillow.  Miss, miss, miss.  Open the window so it will fly out.  It stops flying around the room but I think it went into our closet area.  We look high and low.  Not there.  Maybe it flew out the window?

 

Calm down.

 

Lights out, but Jerry the kitty is on the bed with us.  Back to Kindle-ing and snoozeville.

 

Jerry starts going nuts.....the bat is back.  More pillow swinging, door closing and window opening.  Bat goes back in the closet.  I go to get a tennis racket to get a better swing.  Tracy crawls into the closet to see if she can find the enemy, but this time she has Superkitty by her side.

 

Tracy quickly crawls back out of the closet squealing that it’s in there.  Superkitty then flushes the bat out of the closet, knocks it to the rug and pounces.  He has the bat pinned to the floor at which point I use the racket to take over the pin duty as Tracy puts Jerry in the bathroom.

 

We use the racket and a clipboard to scoop the bat up and toss out the window.  It is 12:30 and now I can go to sleep.

 

I have said for a while that Jerry is the best kitty ever.  Now I have proof.

Thank you, Lew and Jerry!  You were both so brave!

Dad 107: Baseball, of course!

(Dad wrote this several hours ago, so Kim should be winging her way home as I post this.  Safe travels, Kim!  Enjoy Dad's post.  --  Tracy)

Derf Here! The day is a "10" in the great Northeast. The air is dry. The temp is favorable. This is just what we ordered. Thanks!

Well, I've been busy since my last blog post. I'm a year older. Friday I celebrated my birthday by freeing up my weather vane once again. It was stuck in a SSE direction. As I look at it now, it faces the W. It is good to see it working once again. I hope I don't have to free this thing up every year. I will, if I have to! Must know the wind direction. Now to more interesting conversation....

Josh's baseball team (Juniors 13-14 years old) won our district and played for the state championship. Of course it was in Bangor, about 150 miles away. Three trips later, they were eliminated but we all enjoyed watching Josh and his friends play for a state championship. Josh had an on-base-percentage (OBP) of .400 and had a blistering single in his last at-bat. Lost to the eventual champions in their second game. Were down 3-1 until the last inning. The wheels came off and lost 9-1. The champions beat the other team in the tournament (Scarborough split with this team) 11-0 after five innings yesterday for the championship. A 10-run "mercy rule" was used to end the game after five innings. I wish Bangor "Good Luck" in New Jersey in next week's event.

As Deb (Josh's mom), Auntie Kim, Josh, and Jackson (Josh's friend and teammate) were on the way home, a text was received by Deb with some fantastic news. Josh, along with teammate Nick Lorello, were nominated for the Phil Martin baseball award. His eighth-grade coach nominated them and they will receive the award Monday night. Phil Martin coached at Scarborough High School for 30+ years. Congratulations to Josh and Nick for receiving this prestigious award. We are proud of you. Nice guys sometimes do finish first! Josh will be at baseball camp this week so he will be brought home from Orono for the awards ceremony. Then back to Orono for remainder of camp (with friend Kyle Russo). To Josh and Kyle: Enjoy the camp.

Today, in just a few hours, I'll take a trip to Manchester, NH with Kim as her "Maine" summer is over. She will return to Illinois via Atlanta. It has been a good and fun summer. Three weeks from yesterday, Kaelen will be taken back to her Illinois home by automobile. Summer, as we know it, will be officially over.

Not only will we travel to Illinois with Kaelen, but we plan on a trip to Indy to visit with sister Jean. Be aware Jean, we're planning a visit; August 16th or 21st will be visiting day. More to come later.

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

Un-Expectations

Sometimes things come up that you have to do right away.

And sometimes that means that you have to write a short blog post.

That's my situation today.

I'm feeling very blessed.

And now it's time to rest.

G'nite!

rOB-ed sOB-ox

I haven't written too much on my beloved Red Sox lately.  I hate to say anything too negative about my team, so tonight I will comment in the "OB" language.  I don't speak OB very well, so I hope that those who are fluent in it will forgive me.

thOB-is  yOB-ear's  rOB-ed  sOB-ox  tOB-eam prOB-ett-OB-y  mOB-uch  stOB-inks!

(Postscript:  My understanding is that you put the syllable "OB" in front of any vowel sound.  ThOB-at's OB-it.)

Pastor Dave

Our church has a new pastor!  Today was his first Sunday in the pulpit.  Pastor Dave has a lovely wife and two adorable little daughters, and we are blessed to have them as part of our church family.

As a member of our church board, I have been very busy with this pastoral transition.  Some of the details have seemed overwhelming at times, but during this morning's service I was reminded of why we do this.... God is good.  ALL the time.

I'm thanking HIM for His many blessings tonight!

Saturday Siesta

Today I did something that I had not been able to do for a long time:  I took a NAP!

Lew had gone off on his motorcycle to visit his mother.  The windows were open in our living room, so there was a lovely breeze going through.  Jerry was asleep in his new bed.  I was settling in to read a magazine, but my eyes were wanting to close very badly.  I looked over at the couch where Lew is usually reclining.  Hmmmmm....

I "assumed the position" (as Lew calls it) and covered up with the SpongeBob blanket off of the back of the couch (we are very sophisticated here in our household).

Although I was unconscious, I am pretty sure that I enjoyed every second of my nap.  :)

Grab Bag Blog

Random musings:

I got into a little bit of trouble with my mother after I posted yesterday.  That beautiful plate of zucchini?  Well, she cooked it for me... but I failed to mention the sacrifice that she made over a hot stove so that I could have nourishment.  Sorry, Mom!  And thank you for the zucchini.  :)

Today is my father's birthday.  This morning I gave him a card that Lew and I had both signed.  It had partying monkeys on the front.  We celebrated with cake and ice cream around 2:00-ish.  We had to sing "Happy Birthday" really fast because the many, many candles were melting.

Debbie and Glen got married 16 years ago today.  Josh and Zack were both surprised that it was their parents' anniversary.  I told them I would have been surprised if they had remembered it, seeing that they weren't around then.

Mom told us that her first date with Dad was a double-date.  They went to a movie, which my father slept through.  My sisters and I thanked her for agreeing to go on a second date with him.  (We owe you BIG for that, Mom!)

My breakfast buddy, Carole, is an amazingly talented woman.  Mom, Kim, Kaelen and I visited her this morning and pawed through the jewelry that she makes.  We had a blast!  (Check out Carole's CJ Collection jewelry blog, which has a link to her online shop.)

Twelve years ago today I married Lew.  Happy Anniversary, Sweetie!

First Fruit...

... actually, make that "Vegetable."

I ate some zucchini tonight. It came from my father's garden that is in front of our house. I'm not a huge fan of zucchini, but this was pretty good!

Dad 106: A New Era

(A huge "THANK YOU" to my father for his work at the parsonage.  Enjoy his post!  --  Tracy)

Derf Here!  From the warm Northeast.  We are so fortunate not having the severe heat wave and no rain such as is happening in the heartland.  The picture of the dry, cracking land is not a good sight.  Hoping for wet weather there soon!  Please!

I have never written my blog this late in the day.  It is currently 4:15 p.m.  My day has been a beehive of activity.  Replaced an outlet and mounted a light bar today in the new pastor's home.  (The pastor of Lew and Tracy.)  The parsonage is taking shape.  Boy, was it hot!  I am still sitting here in a pool of my own sweat.  How refreshing!

I am a little sad today as our couch of the past many, many, many years is no longer available for me to sit on.  We decided to finally get a new one and have a flat surface to sit on.  I no longer need to stuff pillows, where I sat for years, in order to not be lopsided.  I must admit it is very refreshing to sit comfortably as I ramble on writing this mess.

In a couple days I'll be on my garage once again to fix my locked-up weathervane.  Once again it won't turn with the wind.  Hopefully, I'll solve the problem again.  Hope it keeps working for several years as it should.  My last repair worked only for a year.  It worked well for 20 years prior to its malfunction.  Shooting for another 20 years of wind direction without fail.  At least that's what I hope for!

I've saved the best for last.  Josh's baseball team was successful after an opening round loss to win the District 6 tournament from the losers' bracket.  They will be going to Bangor for the state tournament this weekend.  The state has only three districts, so they must beat two district champions.  Wish the guys well.  Been watching most of the team play for several years within their league as well as their all-star experiences.  I will not be attending, but will keep in touch by texting... NOT me, but Spouse!

I'm late and have been told to keep it short.  I will obey the commands of the higher-ups.  Thus....

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

Sensible Tanning

When I was in high school, my grandmother (Mom's mom) took our family to Florida for our Spring break.  We were all pretty sunburnt after our first full day there, and I remember my mother saying, "We did not tan sensibly."  (And I think those may have been her exact words.  Although I can't prove that.)

Today, my friend Penny brought her three children to visit and we went to the beach.  It was kind of drizzly when we first got there, and the sky wasn't very bright.  Penny and I enjoyed chatting while her kids played in the sand and in the ocean.  By the time we left the beach, the weather had picked up and the sun was out....

I did not tan sensibly.  Let's leave it at that.

Rock-A-Bye, Kitty

I thought it was time for Jerry to have his own bed.

We had to put him in it a few times before he realized it really was for him.

Happy Kitty!

Why Not Every Day?

Before we get ready for church on Sunday mornings, Lew and I eat breakfast and watch a little bit of the weekend "Fox and Friends" show.

I learned from this morning's show that today is "National Ice Cream Day."

Oh, happy day!  :)

(Postscript:  We did go for a walk on the beach before partaking of ice cream.)

FUN SIZE??????

Yesterday I ate a FUN SIZE bag of Peanut M&M's.

There were six M&M's in the bag.

Six.

I know that's the perfect size for handing out on Halloween or having as a small treat.

My issue is that the bag is referred to as FUN SIZE.

I told Lew that a FUN SIZE bag should have about 100 times more the number of M&M's.

Now that would be really FUN.

Just my opinion.

Calling All Prayer Warriors

I had a lighthearted idea to write about tonight, but then I saw today's post on Update on Suzy.  So instead I ask that you please read this update regarding my precious friend.

Please keep Suzy and her family in your prayers.

And remember that God is good... all the time.

Party Animals

Today is my mother's birthday.  I won't tell you her age, but the two digits needed are 4 and 7.

Debbie, Josh, and Zack came up to our house around 2:00 this afternoon to celebrate.  Dad, Kim, and I were also here for Mom's party.

Debbie bought Mom a gluten-free cupcake and adorned it with one candle.  The rest of us ate of a chocolate cake that Kim had purchased yesterday and left on my kitchen counter.  (Lew had to restrain himself from stealing a piece last night.)

I bought a gift for my mother -- a cover for her Kindle -- but I gave it to her the day it arrived in the mail.  And the card I bought still needed Lew's signature (yes, he likes to sign himself).  So I had nothing to give her at the party.

Fortunately, Mom got a gift from Kim and Debbie.  It was an elaborately-wrapped, multi-gift bag with a lot of red and purple items which included sleepwear, candles, and frying pans.  An odd, yet delightful, assortment.

Josh got up and walked by me at one point, and I almost passed out.  It appeared that he had grown about four inches since I had last seen him, which was two days ago.  He is now a couple inches taller than I am.  I'm not sure how (and when) that happened.

From the above account, I think you will see that my family does indeed know how to party.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

(Postscript:  When I finally gave Mom her card, she asked why Jerry hadn't signed it, too!  MEOW!!)

Dad 105: All In the Family

(Hello to all Blog readers. This is Tracy’s sister, Kim. I’m visiting from Illinois and somehow got roped into typing Dad’s blog today for Tracy. MY MOTHER DID MAKE A SANDWICH FOR ME TO EAT WHILE TYPING, SO I GUESS I CAN’T COMPLAIN!)

Derf Here!

From the great summery Northeast! The weather is about a 12 on a 1 to 10 scale. The problem: I must mow my lawn today. Should have done it two days ago and it would have been all done. Procrastination at its finest! Well, at least I’m good at something.

Josh’s all-star team lost its first game Friday in a double-loss elimination tournament. They bounced back for a 10 run “Mercy Rule” win in the next game. “Mercy Rule” is when a team is ten or more runs ahead in five innings. Game called! It shortens the game considerably. We are now awaiting the next game, which is at 5:30pm today. Win and keep playing. Lose and the tournament is over.

Joe and Kelsey flew out of Manchester, New Hampshire airport yesterday and are now home in Illinois. Hit some bad storms in the Atlanta area and that added a few hours to their trip. All is well that ends well. The big story of the day is that Cocoa will be picked up after his first family separation. Free at last. Oh, it is so good to get out of the kennel! I’m happy for you Cocoa! My buddy!

Interesting comment to me from fellow church parishioners. Last Saturday the family had gathered at the homestead for a get-together and fun and games. A game called Ladder Ball was played and it got quite noisy. Well, my church friends inquired if we had the family over Saturday. It seems they were eating at “Kens” across the street and heard the commotion from our yard. I had to admit it was rather loud. Oh, we avoided any police citations for noise. Actually, we had a local policeman in the yard for a short while chatting with the family. He just stopped by as he is a friend of family members (attends church with some family members). Not here on official business. Whew! The champions of Ladder Ball: Uncle Lew and Josh. Of course I was not allowed to play because of my non-amateur status. It is tough being a professional in today’s world. I’ll live with it.

I see the clock on the wall is telling me that it is time to get mowing the lawn. I must answer the call. Soooo!

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

My Visit With Jerry.... By Eli



Daddy, Momma, and I went to Grampa & Tia's house on Sunday.
I got to play with Jerry!

 

A Baby in a Bucket!  Now you've seen it all!




Getting ready for the first ever
"Baby in a Bucket / Cat in a Carton" races!
Momma was the engine for both of us at the same time!

 

My opponent tried to stare me down ...




 





... but I told him, "YOU'RE goin' down, Jerry!"



Jerry was a little tuckered out after the races.
(We tied every time!)
He can find a place to sleep ANYWHERE...



... and so can I!



Bloggy Break

Had a crazy day today, so I'm taking a little "bloggy break."

I have big plans for tomorrow's post on Mainely Tracy, so be sure to check back in!

Our Day

Church this morning.

Chinese food with Grammy, Wayne, Matt, Emily, and Eli to celebrate Grammy's 84th birthday (which was really on Friday).

Leisurely afternoon hanging out.

Walk on beach.

Ice cream from the Dairy Corner.

Now watching Yankees at Red Sox. Not sure I can take it.

One day left of Lew's vacation. Not ready for it to be over.

Ladder Ball Champions

Long day today.  Vacation mode, but also working on several projects.

There was still time for a family Ladder Ball Tournament -- in which I was gratefully just a spectator.  :)

And the reigning Ladder Ball champions:

The team of Josh and his Uncle Lew!

Congratulations!  :)

A Bonus Day

When Lew takes a vacation week, I normally tell him at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, "Your vacation is over!"

Even though the weekend is still part of his continuous time off, I like to tease him a little bit.  (Regular readers of Mainely Tracy know that I usually don't make jokes at my husband's expense.... LOL!)

But this vacation week is different because it contained the July 4th holiday.  That means that Lew gets to take this coming Monday as a vacation day, too.

I'm not sure that "Your vacation is over!" at 5:00 p.m. on Monday will have quite the same punch to it.  But that won't keep a girl from trying....  :)

A Low-Energy Blog Post

Even though Lew is on vacation this week, we have been pretty busy.  But it's all good....

I can't believe that tomorrow is Friday.  Maybe I'll be more creative then.

Thanks for checking in.  G'nite!

Dad 104: Family, Friends, and the Fourth

(Glad that Dad took his orders "to heart" as I'm finally getting this in around 9:00 p.m.  Enjoy his post!  -- Tracy)

Derf here! From the northeast corner of these United States on its birthday. Seems strange writing at 5:30 p.m. for today's blog. Normally, it is done in the a.m. Today has been a little different and I've been told to be brief. So I'll try!

Last night, son-in-law Lew's son Matt and Emily (Matt's wife) brought son Eli over to meet all the family gathered here for their summer visit. Eli was welcomed into the family by all his new relatives. The little fella was a big hit. Cousin Kelsey posted several pictures with Eli on her Facebook page. Great photos!

"Babies are just so stinking cute!" -- Kelsey

Spent today up at Little Sebago Lake at son-in-law Glen's parents' camp. Generally we spend July 4th there enjoying boating and a great lunch. Also featured are the youthful participants being towed behind Glen's boat on gigantic tubes. Can Glen dump the tubers? Most likely the answer is YES!

Spouse and I are now home (the first to leave the lake) and we await a thunderstorm capable of hail and 60 mile-per-hour winds. That's what we heard anyway. I do hear thunder and wonder what kind of a motorcycle ride Kaelen and friend Mike will have riding home from the lake. I hear they are on their way and will run into the storm about halfway home. It will be a ride never to forget. So we wait for their arrival. A day well spent by family and friends!

Now waiting for Josh's first All-Star game on Friday. I'll keep you posted.

Well, I've written enough. Will take my orders to heart and not get carried away. More next week!

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

The Cone of Shame

Lew and his brother went fishing this morning.

And I took Jerry to the vet.  He'd been licking his "area," and the vet's office doesn't want him to do that for a couple days.

Jerry was destined to wear a lampshade -- the Cone of Shame -- on his head.

The vet, the tech, and I were all in the room with Jerry.  The tech showed me how to put the cone on Jerry's head.  Then the three of us watched as Jerry maneuvered it off his head in about 30 seconds.

Apparently about 10% of all cats can do that, and our cat is one of those.  Aren't we blessed?

So, the next thing they suggested was Bitter Apple.  The tech sprayed Bitter Apple in the general vicinity of Jerry's "area" and when he went to lick... well, he backed off right away.  Success!

I paid for the bottle of Bitter Apple, but they said that I might not even need to use it.  Hopefully the one spray they did would be effective for a couple days.

Shortly after Jerry and I got home, I saw that he was licking....  Yes, licking THERE!

I sprayed more Bitter Apple.  And he licked again right away.

When I called the vet's office, they said to keep an eye on the "area," try to keep him from rushing around too much, and he will eventually heal "in spite of himself."

Our kitty is a troublemaker.  But we love him!

Jerry's Big Day

I started off Lew's first vacation day by taking Jerry to the vet.

He needed to be there by 8:00 a.m., as today was "the day."

Lew was apologizing to him as we put him in the pet carrier.

We picked Jerry up at 4:45 p.m.  He was a little "lighter" than when I brought him in.

He is recovering nicely.

But we think he has noticed that something is different.

The Vacation Song

We're on vacation!
We're on vacation!
We're on vacation!
Everybody sing The Vacation Song!

Of course, that is not a real song, but it should be.

And it's really Lew who is on vacation.  Seeing that I am still happily unemployed, I am merely about to experience another week of not working -- but at least Lew is not working with me.  :)

As for where we will be spending our vacation?  Well... we do live in Maine... a mile from the ocean... and it is summer.

I'll try to post every day this week, even if it's just to sing The Vacation Song!

We're on vacation!
We're on vacation!....