Okay, well...

Now that over a year has gone by, I figure maybe I'll update this here blog!

The big update from last time? Well, the winter went by almost without noticing... Not too cold and barely snowy at all! We are still renting our little house in the country and thinking about moving into town and I have been working in Montpelier this whole time... Doing a somewhat unpleasant 94 mile round trip in a vanpool. I am thoroughly sick of it and would really like a job in town... But at least I'm not having to work 3 part time jobs like my dear wife is! So the notion from last time that this has turned out as we had hoped, well, job-wise it is more like it has turned out like we expected... Neither one of us really have the kind of employment that you would hope for.

The other interesting thing is that this weekend I will be completing my second semester of my grand return to school. Only two more semesters and I should be a college graduate... Oddly enough. Elinor turned three this week!

Aside from that, we are still in Vermont, and still in the Kingdom and planning on staying here. Aside from the obnoxious work set-ups and each of us being gone about 60 hours a week to fulfill those, the biggest issue that we still have ahead of us is making some social contacts. We really have none (aside from the in-laws) in a 40 mile radius of home, which has turned out to be quite the bummer. Admittedly we don't really have much time to socialize anyway, but that doesn't quite make it seem any less isolating.

Anyway... Here's looking forward to summer!

Inside the Kingdom, and out...

Startlingly, yesterday it was above 40 degrees most of the day! The snow on our front porch (and the furniture therein) had melted away! It seemed so warm that when I got home I had the feeling that I would spend the evening whiling away with a brewski on the porch... For the first time. Of course, reality sank in that 40 is still a bit cold to comfortably max out of doors... And then today it was back down to 20. But it was a sign!

I do look forward to using the porch. Yesterday I actually contacted a Realtor about looking at some houses in town! Now I doubt that we will pursue this in the near future, as we still have some financial tidying to do. But I have, yet again, mixed feelings about it. I love this little house (though it is too small for us), but I don't think that there is any chance of the owner wanting to sell it... And we cannot decide if it would be best to live out our days out here in the rurality of East St Johnsbury (quiet, secluded, safe, rural) or in town (less of all of those). Mainly it involves Elinor. Growing up in the country seems very peaceful, but I dream of living on the hill in town where we all could walk to films at Catamount Arts, to the Fairbanks museum, to the Athenaeum... Oh, who knows. But with reasonable houses available at under the 100k mark, it seems a pity to just keep renting.

In other news, I am enjoying a three day weekend due to being done with my duties at the White Market on Thursday and not starting work at Hunger Mountain (as the Scan Coordinator if I haven't mentioned it) until Monday. I am somewhat over the regret's of leaving White's (assuming that I can keep in contact with the folks I like who I met there) and I am getting exciting about being around natural foods again and working with databases again. In some ways, this move to Vermont is working out just as we hoped! It will be nice to have basically the same workweek and shifts as Caitlin and being able to drive to and from work with her! Though we think that once her Temp gig with the state is up, she will look for something part time around here (we spend too much time away from Elinor and, though she has grandfolks out here to watch her who do a wonderful job we want to do most of the raising ourselves). At that point, I think I will actually be able to take the bus to Montpelier, which would be a long trip (about 35-40 miles each way), but might actually be quite nice.

Also, we took an excursion today. Friday I took I-91 up to Barton (a great, great town) and I really liked the trip. Very beautiful. Today we took that route again but went all the way to Newport, where I hadn't been before. A nice little town on the shore of Lake Memphremagog and just a couple of miles from Canada! We liked it there. About the same size as the rest of these little towns, but with a yarn shop, a bookstore, a nice old fashioned natural foods store (complete with a cafe with a small, but tasty looking, vegetarian buffet) and actually a tavern that looked interesting. We may try going back again and checking it out some more.

tgif?

Another Friday. I am still, even though I be in Vermont, quite the procrastinator. I was really looking forward to this weekend, just for its own sake and also to do those darn tax things that I always put off. But now I can't get around to anything except for hanging out with Elinor and wishing that we had some decaf around here!

Anyway, in more Vermonty news. We got a nice layer of snow last night, to make all of this sad old snow that's covering everything look a bit fresher... And just to counter my old fears of trying to get a job around these parts, I gave notice at my current job as I have accepted another one. I will now keeping Caitlin company on her commute to Montpelier everyday.

We are really missing Elinor though. Currently she spends about 10 hours a day, 4 days a week with the in-laws. now it will increase to about 11 hours a day 5 days a week. I think we have a good solution for further down the road, but for the time being we will just have to deal with it.

Speaking of Elinor, here she is...

A new dawn

Today marks Caitlin's first day at work! As she is working in Montpelier (about 40 miles east) and she has to be at work at 7:30, we are starting a few new ways today. Monday through Thursday I will (for the time being at least) be getting a ride to work from the in-law's who will then be watching Elinor from 7:30 until 5:30.

This will be a big switch as Elinor has always spent the majority of her time with one or both of us and now that won't really be the case. A bit startling right now, but I imagine that the transition will seem normal as pie.

Today is also the first day that Elinor has worn Chuck Taylor's! She put up quite the stink when we put them on her, but now she seems fine with them. We did double knot them so she couldn't take them off, though... Here she is, a bit foggy, due to leaving the camera out in the sub-freezing car for a week.

A not so permanent vacation after all...

This week Caitlin and I both got jobs. She doesn't start hers until Feb 2nd, but mine starts Monday. While I think that the job will be fine, enjoyable even... It's working for a small, local chain of three (non-natural foods) grocery stores. After spending 7 years at the big bookstore, I've been thinking about getting back into the grocery thing to put a bit of spring back into my step. And, I've kind of been assuming that it is was I would be best off trying out here anyway.

But aside from that, what's really been stuck in my head in the day since I found out that I got the job, is that I have had such a great time with Caitlin and Elinor these last five weeks. Not that that is any change from the previous years, but after the three of us being together generally all day long everyday, I will really miss it. Little Elinor has been such a charmer, and and her age (three months shy of her 2nd birthday) seeing her all of her waking hours has been quite a bonus to this move, as you get to see something great and new every day. Returning to the deal of seeing maybe an hour or two of her for 5 days a week will be tough transition. But like I said, that's the state of things regardless of where one lives, and it has been very nice for our family to spend this time together.

On the positive side, this is the step that I needed to really feel that I have moved. To actually have to deal with getting to work and getting established should help do away with the peaceful, easy feeling of no time constraints or responsibilties I've had this last month. It's made the move feel somewhat unreal and I'm ready to get grounded in this new reality.

Just for fun...

Here is the air temperature forecast from today's paper... It's funny to me that this no longer leads me to dismay:

Wednesday night:
Lows 10 to 16 below

Thursday:
Highs from 7 below to zero, lows 18 to 27 below.

Friday:
Highs 0 to 5 below, lows 15 to 25 below zero.

Snowed...

Well well well. Yesterday my little brother-in-law and I took a snowshoe trip around the property that we're staying on. It was really quite nice, and I found some parts I hadn't know about before, including a really nice and snowy meadow. I didn't take any pictures, but I'm sure that Caitlin and I will set out that way soon and I'll be sure to get some that time.

I did get some pictures of the house and such...

The house, with Elinor being too upset about the snow to pay any attention to it, or to the fact that she has dropped one of her mittens!



Here is the driveway, which is the view that you look at all day from the kitchen/dining area...



Here is that front view, without the trees...



Here is the back area, we showshoed up through those trees...



Anyway, we still love it up there. I feel very relaxed and at home there and when we drop by our house, it sure seems very small. Delightful yes, and like home, but still very small. Also, it has been snowing for the last 10 hours or so. Probably 8 inches are on the ground. It is very very nice.