Minor Detail...

Umm yeah, I forgot to let you all in on a minor detail....I'm not looking for other employment anymore....right now. Why? Because the situation at work has resolved itself, quite abrupltly and unexpectedly. I know, I know I sound so secretive! But I'm just trying to protect the innocent and not be gossipy. If you know me well, you probably know what I'm talking about. If you don't know then you can ask me and I'll fill ya in. But needless to say...YAY!

That's all for now...I'm bordering on being late for Ugly Betty! Yikes!

Stay tuned for details about how the dancin' went last night. I have a feeling I'll have a blog for you after EVERY Wednesday night! :)

Braggin' Rights

Yup, I'm gonna take some time to brag right now. Not about me...but about my husband.

A few weeks ago he asked me what the odds were that I could be in Bangor every Wednesday night by 7:30pm. I told him I could do my best to schedule sessions around that and inquired as to why. "Because," he said, "there is a ballroom dancing class at that time every wednesday and I wanted to know if you wanted to go with me to it." I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the floor and then my legs gave way and I fainted. It's all a blur.

You see, I've wanted to take dancing lessons with Jason from the time were were engaged, which is almost 5 years ago now, but I haven't mentioned in the last few years because he has always FLAT out refused. Now, don't hold it against him. He legitimately HATES dancing. He has no rythm... and I'm not just saying that. This is the man who cannot sing and clap at the same time. (So if you ever see him not clapping along to a worship song in church, it's not because he's not enthusiastic, it's because he'd rather sing the words and he physically cannot do both.) So now you get a small glimpse of what a huge deal this was for him to take the initiative and offer for us to go. My heart melted! How sweet!

So that settles it. I jumped at the chance and, starting this wednesday, we will be learning the basics of swing and waltz.

PS: Before you go writing him down in your book of saints, let me fill you in on this last little tid bit of info. He sheepishly admitted later, that his offer was in response to my going flyfishing with him and my new committment to do so several times a season :) But I'm sure not complaining! A little give and take, a little compromise, that's what marriage is all about!

The Smell of Sweet Success...

...smells something like apple jelly. Okay, so it did take two attempts to successfuly can my hommade apple jelly. And I did end up having to unseal and recan all 20 jars. And it did cause a fight that threatened the very fiber of my marriage...but I did it none the less!

Let me explain....First, I want you to know that I followed the recipe TO a T and that there is no reason, other than error on the reciper writers part, that anything should have gone wrong. I made 20....count them 20....jars of apple jelly. I also successfully sealed them all on the first go round! 'Canning shmanning! There's nothin' to it! Couldn't be simpler!' I gloated to myself as stood back to admire my handy work. After all, it had only taken all afternoon, dirtied every dish in my house, steamed up my windows and used enough water for a small country and enough sugar to keep every toddler in the world awake for an entire week. I kicked back to relax, but as the concoction inside the jars cooled, it seemed as if something was amiss. You see, it did not look like jelly. It looked more like applesauce colored liquid. It just needs more time. I tried to convince myself. HA! Wishful thinking! By the next morning when the "jelly" still sloshed around like juice, I could no longer deny the inevitable conclusion...the "jelly" was NOT going to gel!

Breathing deeply, trying to remain optomisitc and not get violent with the "jelly", I thought, I'll just have to redo it. But when I learned that you cannot reuse to lids and I would have to go buy more, that was the last straw. Believe you me, domestic, softspoken, patient little suzie hommaker is the LAST thing I felt like as visions of smashing those 20 jars to smitherines danced through my head.

Enter Jason....oh, poor, sweet, unsuspecting Jason. He innocently walks in. I explain what happened and the conversation went a little like this:

Jason: Ya know what I'm thinking?

Sarah (thinking to herself sarcastically): No, no I do not. Please enlighten me.

Jason: It would have been a good idea to try it in one jar before you did all of these. (And of course I heard, "You stupid idiot, why didn't try it out just using one jar since you're obviously incapable of making something that turns out right.")

Sarah (defending a non-attacking comment as well as defending why I did not take this very common sense precaution): I can't even believe that's the first think you said to me! Can't you see how upset I am about this! There was no reason for me to do that! I followed the recipe to a T! I know how to follow a recipe! It should have turned out right! I hate canning! That recipe is stupid! I'm going to throw them all away and never do this again!

Later that day....with some coaxing from Jason and my mother as well as some cool down time and a few apologies to my hubby, I regained my suzie homemaker composure and gave it another whirl. Jason helped by unsealing all the jars and washing them, while I got to fixing the jelly. It only needed a little more fruit pectin and a little more boiling. Then I resterilized them, resealed them and I'm happy to anounce that, after cooling, they are very jelly like!

A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into these jars. (Okay, no blood, but the sweat and tears are for real.) So if you get one of these babies for Christmas, know that you must be a VERY important person, and be warned that you better love every last bit of it!

Uninspired

I'm feeling rather uninspired these days. It's because things are generally status quo with us, so don't expect to laugh your heads off on this post, but here's what we've been up to:

We are both still working at the same jobs. Jason has caught some people steeling and is loving his classes. I'm actively searching/praying for new employment (because of the circumstances that I cannot blog about just yet). Shhh work doesn't know yet, I'll tell them soon enough.

We went to my friend's wedding yesterday...actually I was in her wedding...actually I married them! Yes, I became a notary public and married them. It was quite wonderful! (Ooooo, that reminds me, I should mail their marriage certificate in soon :)

Sunday School has started up at church and I am helping teach the 4 and 5 year olds while Jason is helping to teach an adult class.

We went apple picking today after church with my mom at Maine-ly Apples in Dixmont on Rt. 7. They are a great orchard with great prices and super friendly helpful people...although all their cortlands are gone right now, just so you know. Apple picking means fall is here and that is my favorite season! I've got a killer apple pie, Jason makes a mean apple crisp and, hold on to your seats ladies and gentlement, I'm planning to do (make that try) a whole bunch of canning this year. Wish me luck!

AND I'm about to reach 500 hits on my blog! So exciting! That about does it. See, that's all it took to catch you up on two weeks worth of our life!

Mr. Quinn's Kitty Diagnosis

Well, you've heard a lot about our dog, but I'm not sure you've been introduced to my kitty. I say "my" because I had Mr. Quinn before we were married. Sure Jason loves him, but whenever he does anything bad he's "my" cat. And so for the purposes of this post he's "my" cat.

So as not to unduly prejudice you against Mr. Quinn, I am going to share some of his finer qualities with you before I move on to the actual story I wanted to tell you about him. He is an amazing animal...more like a dog or a human than a cat.

1.) He has no "off mechanism" when it comes to the eating. If he was given food 24 hours a day, he would sit there and eat until his stomach swelled and exploded into a meow mix mess all over the kitchen. As a result of this quality he used to weigh 18.7 pounds. Mmmm, that's not a typo 18.7 pounds.

2.) He had to go on a veterinarian mandated diet...only 1/4 cup of food a day. Now he weighs 14 pounds! Yeah buddy! As a result of the lack of food though he's developed some other behaviors.

3.) When we eat, he sits aproximately 2 inches from your plate and begs. If you give him ANYTHING, he will eat it. He has eaten beans, chips, corn and yes, even a jalepeno!

4.) Also, when he gets hungry, you'll know it. How? Because he will walk over to our (quivering) 65 lb. golden retreiver and hit him, yes strike the dog with his paw while hissing and making a weird gutteral meowing sound. He does this because it's the one thing he's found that will get us to pay attention and give in and feed him. (As a result, our golden retreiver never walks within a 10 foot radius of Mr. Quinn and NEVER makes eye contact with him.) And some other wonderful qualities...

5.) He gives kisses.

6.) He lets me clip his toe nails and hold him in my arms like a baby.

7.) When he hears someone in the driveway or at the door, he bristles his hair and runs to the door to protect me.

8.) He crawls under the covers with us and often wakes me up in the morning by grooming my hair.

Okay, so do you love him? Good. Then I can tell you this story and you won't hold it against him... The other day I made a trip down to our (partially finished) basement to do a little creative memories at my fold out table, when, all of a sudden my sniffer caught a wiffer of a foul odor. Musty basement, I thought at first, but no. I continued to follow the old nose and alas, it led me to the source....a virtual LAKE of cat pee on our futon. (Don't worry Jen, not yours, the other one.) This was not a one-time pee. This was Quinn's "I've found a new litter box that I'm going to pee in EVERY TIME I HAVE TO GO" pee. And by my aproximation it was at least several weeks worth.

Needless to say, the futon is at the dump now. Also, we took Mr. Quinn to the vet to see if he had a urinary tract infection. No. NO he did not. Our vet, Dr. Richie (who by the way is an AMAZING vet) did a thorough job asking lots of questions and finally pinpointed the problem. He tracked the beginning of the issue to about the time I started my new job. And the diagnosis? Mr. Quinn has Kitty Anxiety! Yes, that's right. The change in my schedule and me being gone so much more had thrown Mr. Quinn into the depths of anxiety. He loves me and doesn't know what to do without me! And why, you ask, does this explain the pee? Cat's like the smell of their own urine. It is comforting to them. Mr. Quinn is stressed and feeling upset and smelling his own pee makes him feel better. Yup. Awesome!

Weekend Update (Free stuff, Eye Candy & Expensive exams)

Okay, so it's not technically the weekend, but I meant to post on the weekend and came up with the clever title to be a throwback to the Saturday Night Live Weekend Update, so I'm keepin' that part of the title. I know I haven't posted in a while. It's been a BUSY week! But I must forge ahead and give my like 5 readers a reason to keep checking my blog before they give up hope!


Update #1) LIQUID FENCE. I'm sure you all are dying to hear if I ever actually got my free product from Liquid Fence. Well, I'll have you know that I certainly did. I finally found time to call within normal work hours and got a hold of Deb. She was SOOoo sweet. Both she and her husband work for the company. Her husband is actually the one who found my blog and they refer to me as the girl from Maine! She told me how they have visited Maine and absolutley love it and had actually considered living here. Apparently they think my life in Maine sounds pretty wonderful. Well, Deb, if you ever want a change of pace, you and your hubby just pack your things and make the move! There's a reason why one of our motto's is "Maine, the way life should be!" So she got my address and I got my Just Pump & Spray with some Liquid Fence conentrate in the mail the other day! I love getting packages! Especially when I don't pay anything for them. If you wanna be my new best friend, all you gotta do is give me something free! Even if it's just a magnet!


Update #2) JASON: Jason did not get an assistantship. It was too late, none left...bummer, but never fear! He recieved conditional acceptace into the graduate program. He is taking two graduate courses and really liking them. As long as he does well in these courses, he will have full acceptance with an assistantship in the spring semester. Meanwhile, he continues his hall monitor job, and apparently he's more eye candy for the highschool girls than he is an authority figure they respect at this point. (You see, another hall monitor informed him that he's the new highschool crush.) But he takes his job seriously and enforces the rules of the school and the students are learning that he's not a push over. He loves to come home and recount stories about the repeat offenders, and having to chase students through the halls that are trying to throw him off their trail. And stay tuned, I'll let you know if they ever find out who the bathroom smoker is! Jason also continues to help out with Lifelines trips, guiding rafting and helping them run programs on some Saturdays.


Update #3) ME: One month done at work! I'm really getting the hang of it and really enjoying the families and children that I work with. There are still some very trying situations that I cannot discuss in detail but I'm sticking it out so far. This weekend I took my exam in order to become a liscenced social worker (LSW) and passed! They allow you 4 hours to take the exam. I was in their, finished and out to my car in 1 1/2 hours! And let me tell ya...for what I paid to take that test...that was the most expensive 1 1/2 hours of my life. I think I should have drawn it out a little longer just to feel like I got my money's worth sitting in front of that computer in the small, sterile, cold enough to be a meat locker testing room. Now I just have to actually apply for the liscence...and pay more money...and I'll be an LSW. Wahoo!

Liscence, Registration and Proof of Inusurance...

If you don't know what the title of this blog means, then you've never been pulled over because these are the first words out of the officer's mouth as he mosies up to your window all serious like. Now this is not your typical, "I got pulled over" story so you're gonna wanna read on.


Our memorial day weekend started off great, we spent Saturday celebrating Jason's grandmothers 75th birthday down at camp with all the family and friends you could ever want. It was a lovely day, tons of kids running around, great food and great weather.


The next day we headed off to Greenville to camp and fly-fish. We got out of the door right when we had planned, the weather was awesome, not a care in the world...then...flashing blues as we cruised through a happy little town on Route 15 (Jason doesn't want me to name the town, or the officer because he's afraid of some kind of reprecussions if they ever read this blog! I think that's absurd, but I'll respect his wishes :) And apparently Jason, yes he was driving, was cruisin' a little too fast for Mr. Officer's liking. The speed limit drops to 25 near the school...who knew!?...and Jason was going right around 40, innocently thinkig the speed limit was still 35.


Oh, it gets better! Here I am feeling sorry for Jason and then, as the officer is strolling up to our window, Jason says, "Man, and the truck is unresgistered." I say, "WHAT!? The truck is WHAT!?" I went from sypathetic to flamin' mad in about 2.2. In order for you to fully understand, I have to back up just a smidge. Last week at church some really nice, anonamous person, put a little card on the truck that says, "Just want to let you know that your registration has run out. Best wishes from THE MAINE MOOSE." Jason told me about it and I was all, "That's so awesome! I wonder who that is. So will you register the car this week because I'll be at work and won't be able to get in there during business hours, and Oh yeah , you're not doing anything this week because your job doesn't start 'till next week?!" And Jason was all, "Yeah, definitely." And then, as I find out, HE DIDN'T! So that's why I was rippin' mad. (By the way, a big thanks to the Maine Moose, whoever you are.)


Oh, there's even more! So the officer goes back to his car and he's in there for SOOOOOoooo long, we know we're getting the ticket. So I took the extended wait in the truck as my opportunity to tell Jason just how mad I was and spell out how much it costs to register the truck verses pay these huge tickets and ask him questions like, "Do I need to be in charge of registering the vehichles from now on!?" (Yeah, not my finest hour.) To which, Jason told me he didn't need that from me right now and then randomly said, "Argh! I think I forgot to put on deoderant today. Darnit!...(long pause)...How 'bout I rub my armpits all over your face! And then people will be like, 'Aww Sarah, your face smells like B.O.! That's disgusting!'" And then we both started cracking up.


And the icing on the cake....So, after an exorbinantly long period of time the officer comes back to the window and says, "Sir, can you drive down to the little meat store up ahead and pull your vehicle into the parking lot?" And I'm thinking...Oh my crap! He's going to impound the car and take us to jail! But then he continued, "Here's what happened sir. Your liscence seemed to have dissapeared on me. I don't want to get hit looking for it, so we'll go up to that parking lot so I can look for it." So we go to the parking lot, he looks for it for a while, he comes back, "Well sir," His tone growing more sheepish by the second, "I think your liscence fell down between my radar unit and the console and I can't get it out. If you could just follow me back to the station, I'll get some tools and take the radar unit out and then I can get to your liscence. I was going to write you a summons but because I am now inconveniencing you, I'm going to let you off with just a warning."


I am NOT even kidding you! Jason said that he had been praying away that if there was any way to not get this ticket to please make it happen, becuase we can't afford it. But I'm very reluctanct to chalk that one up to God because we totally deserved the ticket. Of course He can do whatever He wants and if it was His doing then he definitely showed us mercy that day...mercy NOT grace! Either way, it makes for a very cool story!