6 Kids, 3 cats, 1 dog, Mom, and Dad

Out to dinner or Hanging out with Dad.

Oldest Daughter called to see what I was doing last night. I told her that I was going out with Good Friend and His Wife and she asked if she could go too.

We had an awesome dinner at the Green Monkey and she said that she had fun too.

It made me smile.

Taking up the slack or When the daughters are gone.

Middle Daughter is in France, Youngest Daughter is visiting with cousins...That leaves me home alone.

Obviously, the cats get a lot more attention when they are here because the little darlings are driving me crazy. Food...check! Kitty litter ok....check! Someone to constantly dote on you...oh...it is just ME.

I get up to do anything and I have Fizban and Storm all but dancing between my feet as I walk. Even Buddy will skulk out of hiding and let me pet his tail as he slinks by where I'm sitting.

Fizban was out of control this morning. On my laptop, on my other keyboard, then the mouse pad, around my legs, getting in my chair when I get up....poor kitty just starving for attention!

I held her in my arms, like a baby, for around 15 minutes and she's content to sleep in her bed on my desk right now. Actually, she's cleaning her fur at a furious pace like she has to fix how I messed it up while petting.

Another yummy dinner or I'm the chef this time.

Youngest Daughter really likes the Delmonico steak that is sold at our local small town grocery store. I had a tuna steak for the first time this weekend in a restaurant and decided to repeat the experience when I saw that they had Sushi grade tuna in the fresh seafood case.

I bought some Simply Organic Grilling Seasons Steak Seasoning and used it on both of our steaks.

I 'baked' potatoes in the microwave and Youngest Daughter threw together the Caesar Salad in a bag to round out our dinner menu.

My tuna started off a dark red when raw and ended grilled on both sides and a medium shade of pink in the center. It was awesome!

My little coffee pot or I got a warm feeling.

I had a great day yesterday. I had brunch with Princess Youngest Daughter at a restaurant called Isis in downtown Portsmouth.

After that I met up with Good Friend and His Wife so that we could travel to Good Friend and Hubby that Just Had Their First Kid's home and see the new baby. She's adorable and we enjoyed our visit a lot.

Then, I traveled to Good Friend's home where he and His Wife graciously entertained me with food and wine. We watched some TV, talked a bit, and I had an awesome time.

This morning I got up to make some coffee and realized that I had made a pot yesterday but didn't empty the carafe. The coffee was still warm! Not quite warm enough to drink but I was amazed that it was still warm at all! This coffee pot rocks!

And in other news or And then there was two.

Princess Middle Daughter is in an airport in Boston and will soon be flying over the Atlantic on her way to France. She's excited and nervous, Daddy is the same. I know she's going to have an awesome time!

She'll be in Paris, Provence, and Nice and may get a chance to swim in the Riviera!

That leaves me and Princess Youngest Daughter home alone. We'll do some fun trips in the area while she's on vacation too.

Hanging in there or Each day is different.

How am I really? Each day is different and challenging in its own way.

Some days I can't listen to music, at all, because the associations with different times in our lives is too strong.

Some days I want to be left alone and others I want to be out and doing something just to not face being in the house any more.

Spring is hard. As the flowers start to bloom I can't help but think how excited Mary got about this time of year. She would start wondering right about now if she should start some plants indoors and what she wanted to do this year with her garden.

She'd also start thinking about Summer, and how much fun it was going to be at the beach, lake, or her parent's cabin.

I know she's gone, but the impact and reality of it doesn't seem real. I find myself having fun at times but I'm watching myself like an out-of-body experience and asking how it is possible. At other times I'm overwhelmed with grief but try not to wallow in pity.

I drive by her grave every day. That's where we put her body but that's not where she is right now. She's in me, the children, other's memories of her, in her flower beds, and she permeates our home.

Soo...that's how I'm doing.

Public service or Just the kind of hairpin that I am.

My grandfather used to say that...That's just the kind of hairpin that I am...I'm not sure why he said it but I find myself using it...

Anyway! I found a cool blog and thought I should share the wealth! The content is probably not work friendly for a guy but you chicks should be able to get away with looking at lingerie. :)

The Be Cheeky site linked there is pretty nice too.

Resistance is futile or Make it easier and cheaper.

I just read an article that says the taxpayers are not e-filing their taxes as much as the IRS would like. The cost to process a paper return is $2.49 compared to $.78 if someone e-files.

Of course the cost is less to the IRS because the consumer has to pay money to Turbo-Tax and to the clearing house for their refund. This isn't too hard a pill to swallow if you get a refund...but if you have to pay something and then pay those fees on top of it all, why not just do the taxes and mail in the forms?

Also, it took around three to four weeks to get my refund via direct deposit. I think that a faster turn-around would get people on board faster too.

Great day or Let's fly a kite.

I didn't actually fly a kite today but I wished I had one when I saw how windy it was on top of the hill. I did bring my camera and took a few pictures. I really like these ones:

Finding as I clean or Comforting words.

As I clean and go through things I find little notes and journal entries that Mary made in different notebooks. She was always making lists and writing down questions that she wanted to ask the doctor during her appointments.

She also took the time to write down her thoughts about what was going on and how she felt about me and the kids. These notes are incredibly touching and let me know that she loved me and felt loved by me...a comforting thought now that she's gone.

Nothing much or What's going on in my neck of the woods.

Mostly, I've been working. I had a great time last weekend going with Good Friend and His Wife into Boston to celebrate his birthday.

I've been busy with work and doing fun stuff like downloading music from iTunes. I even downloaded an episode of Scrubs and thought watching it on my iPod was pretty cool.

Young and Beautiful or Say that again, please.

It is amazing...how young she looks in the picture. She was always worried about stuff like that no matter how many times I told her that she was beautiful. Then, she'd look back at pictures that were 5, 10, 15 years old and say, "Wow! I was skinny and hot back then, what was I worried about?"

Then...she'd say those magic words...Bob, you were right, thanks honey!

Cleaning her room or Gave her the chills.

Princess Middle Daughter is cleaning her room tonight and was looking at some pictures she had from our last Disney trip, before Mary got sick.

Here's the first one, all of us and Belle...

She flips to the next picture and notices that it is almost the same picture, except that Mary isn't in it...

And the flakes are still falling or We have accumulation!

It is Spring or Flakes don't lie.

Yep, it is snowing outside...Hand to God...I swear! It was in the 70s last week, and it is snowing...and accumulating...

At least the ground isn't frozen any more so it shouldn't last very long once it stops...but still.

Christmas in April or Doing something it likes.

Good Friend's Sister gave us a Christmas Cactus last year. It was covered with buds and bloomed gorgeously for a while.

This year, it started to bloom around Christmas but it hasn't stopped! In fact, it keeps getting more blooms and looking better each day.

What am I feeling or Hooked on a feeling?

I've heard about the five steps of grief. Some people swear by them, some think that it either simplifies or complicates the process.

The TEAR method makes more sense to me.

T = To accept the reality of the loss
E = Experience the pain of the loss
A = Adjust to the new environment without the lost object
R = Reinvest in the new reality

I noticed that they did Spring cleaning at the cemetery this weekend. They removed all the flower arrangements from the funeral and replaced the grass over the grave-site. The headstone won't be installed until late April/early May so I may get something to put there as a temporary solution.

I blow a kiss to her whenever I drive by...

Cat the ripper or When robins dance in your yard.

I put the weather-proofing plastic wrap over our windows this year. I can't believe what a difference it made in heating this place. I have double-paned windows but somehow the wind still finds a way through and into our living area.

On a window that I would have sworn was airtight I would see the plastic puffing in and out showing otherwise. Also, when I would turn up the heat it would instantly start getting warm. I'll be putting the same thing on the windows next year for sure. In fact, I may take down what is there now so I can clean the windows before putting it on again and installing the air conditioners.

I've noticed a lot of robins in our yard lately and they same to be either eating worms of doing mating ritual type dances.

Fizban must have noticed this increased activity too. The plastic wrap is ripped and shredded on the window next to my desk. I guess getting four inches closer, before hitting the glass, mattered a lot to her when those birds started to dance.