What’s A Starbucks Girl To Do?

June 8, 2012 at 7:35 pm | Posted in coffee, Food and Drink, JUST DUMB, Starbucks, Travel | Leave a comment
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So….when times are tough and the day has beaten the life outta me, I turn the wheel and my faithful minivan/mom-mobile heads to the closest source of quality caffeine – Starbucks.

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The downside of living in a town (actually it might really be considered a “village” since the population is so small – one of these days I really should find out) instead of a city, is that there are no coffee shops nearby. The closest Starbucks location is a rest stop on hwy 95. Since Maine is classier than those people “running on Dunkin'” over in Massachusetts, all of OUR rest stops have a Starbucks inside. (I tell you, no state was longer to drive across on my last roadtrip than MA. ONLY mcD’s and Skunkin’ Dunkin’ for what felt like a thousand miles!)

Fortunately there is a backside access to our rest stops so that the locals don’t have to take the hwy (and pay the tolls) to get there. The first time I found my way there, I did a little happy dance of joy!

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Recently, all of our rest stops have been getting a little added flair. One has a giant metal moose sculpture, another has a large metal sculpture of another example of Maine wildlife. Up until recently, the Grey location was without such decorations. Someone apparently thought this should be remedied. Unfortunately, the latest addition leaves something to be desired.

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Instead of an impressive artistic rendering of a majestic animal, WE got a pair of fiberglass deer that look like they,d be right at home on a put-put golf course. Or possibly a backwoods grandma’s trailer park lawn. Seriously – I suspect they were purchased from Walmart’s lawn and garden section. They are SO sad.

And last week, they put up a little plaque in front of them.
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I decided to get a closer look to see if maybe their true purpose was to educate the public on the local deer population or some other informative tidbit. Unfortunately, even the plaque was disappointing. It instructs the observer to look but don’t touch the deer. I guess in addition to their being cheap looking, they are fragile as well.

Welcome to Gray, y’all!

ETSY

January 18, 2011 at 11:20 am | Posted in goals, selling, Travel | Leave a comment
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Well, so far I have accomplished (sort of) one of my goals. I set up my etsy account. I listed a single item. I think I will focus my next efforts on listing the hundreds of books I have on either alibris or etsy or ebay or….whatever. I will get them listed SOMEWHERE and out of my house! They are everywhere! Yikes.

My biggest news though is a trip to California planned for late April into early May. My folks will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary and they want all their kids back together for it. This is no small feat considering we are spread all over the continent at this point. Three siblings scattered around California, me in here in Maine, and one newly relocated to Montreal. That’s a lot of miles!

My favorite part of planning a trip is deciding what to pack. Even though I have months to go, I already have my packing list pretty much completed. I want to fit everything into a carryon since the airline is going to charge us $25 to check EVEN ONE BAG. You suck, airlines. The tickets were a really good price (that my amazing sister plunked her credit card down for, thank you!!!) but they really stick it to you in the luggage dept. So here is my packing list so far:
talk to autumn about afternoons for bella and charlie
GET PASSPORTS!!!

CA PACKING LIST fit all into carryons (mail the rest?)
————————

MY BAG & CUPPY’S BAG

Watercolor or blank journal Notepad
Set of watercolors
1 paint brush
6 pens
Glue Stick
2 highlighters
watchtowers, bible, songbook, bookstudy book
2 weeks of pills + bottles
vitamins, musinex, restaysis
makeup + brushes
travel  wipes
?travel size makeup remover?
?1 nailpolish?
potty wipes for cuppy
1 pair of glasses (vintage?)
2 necklaces, 3 earrings
via packs, chips, snack bars, chocolate
1 headband, 2 hair clips, 1 comb
NO HAIRDRYER OR CURLING IRON
postcard stamps, list of addresses in phone
2 novels, 1 vintage magazine
List of places to go (flea markets, vintage shops)

LAPTOP
Camera + extra battery
Ipod + headphones + usb cable (to recharge off of laptop)
Cell phone + recharger + car charger

6 panties
4 bras – one black, one white, 2 strapless
2 tights + 3 socks
2 leggings
one sleeveless dress (black?)
no sleeve shirts/ modest tanks
1 or 2 tunic short dress/shirt (pink vintage mini dress)
2 sweaters (black linen chicos jacket)
3 fun skirts for meetings or play
1 pencil skirt
1 pair of jeans
2 pairs pjs
1 belt
1 other pair of shoes (pink dr. martins)
extra collapsible duffle
Vintage purses for girls in the family
tshirts for justin
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wear on the plane—
long baggy skirt, bulky wedge shoes, heavy sweater with buckles
1 leather jacket (blue?), one thin long scarf

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Cuppy’s bag — two barbies, two small stuffies, eye cover, 1 colorbook, crayons, snacks

Cute frilly skirts for meetings or play
3 pjs
7 panties
1 long heavier sweater for her to wear on the plane

Day at the beach

August 5, 2010 at 4:43 pm | Posted in Travel | Leave a comment
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Since the weather folks said that it would be really warm today with thunderstorms holding off until the afternoon, we planned a last hurrah trip to the beach. We decided to go to Pinepoint Beach here in Maine. A warm day is the perfect day for the ocean! My youngest really wanted to go to the “flat beach” with the “flat water” (the lake). So with a sigh she gave in to the plan for a trip to the ocean as long as she got to bring her “special yellow” beach towel.

When we arrived at around 10:30am, the fog was thick but seemed to be gradually pulling away.

We slathered ourselves and the children with sunscreen and set them free to run.

foggy beach

After heading directly for the water, they decided to work on digging a large hole instead.

The hole begins....

The tide was coming in and bringing with it lots of ground of red and brown seaweed. Ick.

completed hole/giant trench

I spent a little time in the water and then just got too grossed out. The giant clouds of red/brown ick was warm and I started imagining that it looked a lot like sewage. So, yeah, I was pretty much done playing in the water at that point. Also, it started getting windier and colder. Most of the late morning and afternoon was spent huddled under towels and blankets and trying to get warm. Then, it started sprinkling. THEN it started raining. People all around us started packing up and heading home. Since I followed my friends to this beach, I didn’t know how to get back to the highway so I had to wait for them to be ready before I could leave. In anticipation though, I packed up most of our beach gear, got back under my towels and blanket and waited.

shivering beach goers

The sunglasses mostly kept the rain out of my eyes.

In time, the rain passed on but man, what a great day for the beach. Since we all had things to do in the afternoon and evening (packing for camping and getting ready for our family worship night) we couldn’t stick around all day waiting for good weather. FINALLY it was time to leave.

On the way back, we stopped at a relatively clean gas station to use the bathroom. While waiting in the car I noted their advertisement for an “expanded wine selection” (which was proudly displayed on a 3×3 foot wire shelf in the back of the store,  next to the entrance to the restroom). Cause yeah, you definitely want to shop for wine at the gas station. And when you do, you want to choose one with an expanded selection. LOL

COUNT DOWN……

April 30, 2008 at 6:03 pm | Posted in Travel | Leave a comment

…..SEVEN DAYS

100_0720I’ve been counting down the months, then weeks, now DAYS until the girls and I leave on our trip. I would say, ‘vacation’ but a journey with two small girls in tow is never much of a vacation from anything.

We are still recovering from the weekend. We all picked up colds at the special assembly day and our noses have run away from home, never to be heard from again. Fortunately, I’m stocked up on kleenax….er, I mean facial tissue. (we buy the cheap stuff that costs 69 cents a box. It also works for removing old paint off of furniture in a pinch.)

Normally, the only thing I stress over before a trip is the packing.

And when I say that I ‘stress‘, what I mean is that I spend weeks up until the day of departure, writing up new lists each day, of items to be packed…and the lists, of course, get longer and longer each day as I remember several dozen things that I had forgotten on the last list…..and I also spend each night of those weeks having nightmares about running away from home as a refugee of a fire or a mob attack and only having moments to gather up all the vital things I need. Generally there are never enough bags to hold everything in these dreams and there is always something I have forgotten that severely impedes my quality of life or basic survival. So, yeah….issues…

Up until this weekend, I was also stressing about having vistors right before our trip. But, as much as I love them, I was very very relieved to find out that they would not be coming afterall….and I therefore have several more days to get caught up on dishes and laundry and packing and making phone calls and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.

Now, normally I try not to leave too many dishes in the sink when I leave town. But that is about all I worry about when it comes to the house. But this will be our first trip away requiring a housesitter for our cats and mail. Have I mentioned in the last three minutes how much I hate those cats??? (one of them is currently refusing to leave the attic…stupid hairball) ALSO, my in laws will be staying for a bit while the girls and I are gone.

Now, admittedly, I am not a good "housewife".

The place is not clean at all times (or any other times) should someone stop by unexpectedly and there is always a pile of laundry waiting for attention in the kitchen. Now, I am challenged to get the place clean enough that the in-laws don’t catch any diseases that are more common to people living in the squalor of third world countries and are resistant to all modern antibiotics. I’m sure that they will not feel at home and they will not enjoy their stay. But for their sakes, I am making an attempt to clean the place up….whether they appreciate it or not.

Fortunately though, those same in-laws are going to be taking the girls for a couple nights this weekend. I figured that this was only fair since they wouldn’t be seeing the girls for like a month. And of course, it gives me the oppty. to get a bunch of stuff on those lists done…

By the way, does anyone know the going rate for a housesitter these days? The last time I housesat was like 15 years ago and I got 40 bucks to do it. I’m guessing there has likely been some sort of inflation since then. HELP!

  Sept1407cuppytravels_2

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