Week 2

A Day in a House of Children

She wakes up in the morning and she can’t believe her eyes. “What happen to this house? I cleaned all day yesterday!” She stumbles over to the coffee pot she couldn’t do anything without the gift of energy that cup would provide. She pushed the coffee pots way to the faucet. The sink was full of dishes again. She was careful not to break the coffee pot it would surely be a bad day, if that happen.

After she had got out the filter and coffee and pushed the start button she continued to look around. Where had the living room floor gone she wondered she knew that she had found it yesterday. She sighs in frustration.

As soon as she had enjoyed her cup of coffee in relaxing silence she knew that it was time to get to work. The kids would be up soon. The laundry basket was full as was the dryer and the washing machine. She emptied the dryer switched over the wet clothes and added the dirty ones. There one thing started.

Now she had to find that living room floor under all those toys. For a moment she dreamed of a bigger house, and then she realized that would entail more cleaning. She quickly ended that dream.

She gathered the two large plastic totes that the kids had turned upside down emptying all the toys on to the floor. The blue one was for Andy’s toys and the green one was for Anna. She flung batman toys that way and baby dolls this way.

She wondered why two children had so many toys. When she was little she was lucky to have one baby doll, not six or seven that her daughter got for Christmas alone. Kids just have too much these days she thought.

The sun had risen to another cold snowy day. She could hear the banging of the crib against the wall, a sure sign that Anna would soon be awake. The stirring had begun.

Her living room floor had reappeared and everything was neatly in its place. She poured herself a fresh cup of coffee on the way to the laundry room. She walked with robot like actions. It seemed like she had been programmed to complete all tasks. He face had a plain expression you could tell that she did not enjoy cleaning.

The rest of the day went on as scheduled. The kids got up and had Fruity pebbles and toast for breakfast. The man of the house woke up drank a cup of coffee and headed out to work. She did everything for everyone. She made their breakfast and got their drinks even made her husband’s lunch and put it in a brown paper bag.

They played blocks, of course dumping them all over the living room floor. Batman and Spider man fought the Green Goblin and the dolls from the Happy Doll house. Goofy and Mickey climbed to the very tip of the tower built of blocks just to rescue Minnie. The house was full of laughter, fun and even arguments. She sat back a realized how lucky she was.

She headed to the kitchen to wash the dishes and make the kids their lunch. Today was macaroni and cheese with fruit and chicken nuggets. She got the dishes done while the water was boiling and the kids played with play dough all over the recently clean table.

By the time that everyone was done with lunch the kitchen was a wreck and there was a sink full of dirty dishes. The kids had macaroni and cheese mixed in the play dough and play dough in their macaroni and cheese. She was tired and frustrated but remembered that they are kids and laughed at herself when she realized she even had play dough and macaroni and cheese in her hair.

By the time that everyone’s little fingers and faces were washed it was story time. It was time for the little ones to grab their pillows and blankets and relax during quiet time. She was only about half way through the book when they both fell fast asleep.

She quickly got up and continued on cleaning and trying to fit some home work in. She never felt like there was enough time in the day to get it all done. On the other hand her body and mind we tired from the long day that she had experienced.

After a decent nap the children work up and were eager to have fun. She had already started dinner in hope that she would be able to have it done when her husband arrived home from work. This was a goal every day. It only happened about fifty percent of the time.

She excitedly announced to them that it was time to go outside. This was always a great way to fill in the afternoon as the kids were lively and full of energy after their nap. Getting an almost 2 year old and almost 4 year old ready to go outside was a long process with in its self. It was only 15 degrees out so they needed layers. By the time that they actually got outside it was getting dark out. They still had time to slide down the driveway a few times. The whole idea was to just get them outside into the fresh air if even for a short time.

When the children’s checks and noses were as red as the ripest strawberries, she decided it was time to head in. Of course the children didn’t want to go. Sometimes to her it seemed like everything was a struggle. Every Mom know some good tricks though, so after several attempts to get them in she announced to them that the first one in and undressed gets the first cup of hot coca.

The kids took off as fast as they could. They giggled and screeched like the tickle monster was after them. Up the stairs and into the house hats and wet mittens on the floor and one even landed in the fish tank. It was a race. She was done first of course and made them all hot cocoa at the same time. They had some much fun, were cold and thirsty no one cared about getting the first cup.

She finished up dinner while they drank their coca and had a cookie. When they were done they were a mess. Seriously wondered if any of the hot coca actually went to their bellies or if it all just when on them, the floor, the table and even in their hair. It was definitely bath time.

The little one grabbed some dolls and got in the tub. The boy grabs some action figures and gets in the shower. She sits in between the two supervising and getting just as wet as they were. She hears her husband drive in and so do the kids and they rush to greet him.

It was already dinner time and she had managed to have it ready. She would warm it back up and dish it up while Daddy wrestled the kids. During dinner they ate and made messed talking about their day. Everyone was getting tired. They all got in their PJ’s and gathered into the living room to watch a movie. The kids were asleep by 7:15 and she was ready to head there herself. She got up and she took the baby to the crib and her husband took their son to his room. She then looked around at all the mess. The mitten was even still in the fish tank. She walked over and scooped it out. The rest can wait until tomorrow when she does this all over again. Goodnight!

A Relaxing Walk Along the Lake

Nature

Today was a long day. I had lots of errands to do and running from place to place. The day was warm but the evening was cooling off quickly. It was approaching 7 o’clock and already getting dark. That was the one thing that I didn’t like about the fall in Maine.  I was glad to be home. Once I got all of the groceries put away I needed a few moments for myself. It was my time to unwind, time to find peace and enjoyment for a relaxing evening.

I gathered the kids up and headed out to the front yard. I was sitting in a camp chair breathing in the wonderful smells of the woods while they played happily on the swing set. My body began to relax and I could feel nature pulling the weight off of my shoulders.

I eagerly awaited the sound of my husband’s motorcycle. I had the 4 wheeler out of the garage and all ready to go. The kids were running, laughing and then fighting. These were the typical actions of brother and sister.

The air was so still tonight that I could hear the bubbling of the brook. It was only on very still nights that you can hear this. I could smell the dampness of the dirt and the rain in the air. The still before the storm I suppose.

There it was the low rumble of the four stroke engine flying down over the hill. I can always tell his speed by how the bike sounds. The rumble was louder tonight because of the still air.

I was already sitting on the wheeler when he drove into the driveway. As soon as he was off his bike I took off. He knew the routine it was nothing different to us. I loved my ½ hour escape.

I sped down the twisty dirt road. The dust swirled up behind me like in the Dukes of Hazard. I was excited to see what I would experience this time down on Graham Lake. I had heard that the damn had opened today and let more water out so the part of the lake that I like to visit had to be low tonight.

As I approached the water I slowed down a lot. I didn’t want to scare off any of the wild life that may be wondering around down there. I parked up on top of the bank and walked down to the beach. There was the first treat of the evening two cranes or storks as I like to call them standing knee deep in the mucky water. They paid no attention to me. I don’t think they even moved a muscle. Perhaps they liked seeing me down there as much I enjoyed seeing them.

I looked around and noticed the level of the water. It seemed to be further down than any other year. I looked over at the stump where I knew I had lost my good luck fishing lure and thought just maybe I would find it. I hurried over. I was eager to see if it was there. Only about 3 or 4 inches of water covered the ground surrounding the stump. I tried to walk out to it but by the amount of distance that I began to sink into the mud I decided that the fishing lure wasn’t that important.

As I backed up out of the mud I took my usual walk around the point. There were so many different animal prints it was hard to tell the path they took. Dog and/or coyote prints everywhere. It was interesting to try to examine them to see if you could tell by the size of the print how many different animals had been there. I was pretty sure that I could see three definite different paw sizes. I saw one straight line of deer tracks. They walked out of the woods and into the water. I never could see where it came back out and I wondered about this a lot. Had it swam across or maybe it was shallow enough for it to walk across. Can deer swim, I wondered?

As I continued along, the little sand peepers with their long beak scattered away in to the water’s edge. It seemed like they didn’t want to get wet but at the same time didn’t want to get near me. The sand peepers were kind of cute in a talk gangly type of way. The way they ran made me giggle out loud. Six ducks flew over. They flap their wings slow and hard and it looks like flying takes a lot of work. They were flying in a V like most ducks do. For the life of me I could not remember why it is that they do that.

When I reached the point I was looking for something specific. This was the main reason that I began to take this evening journey, every night. I looked up to the very tippy top of this huge pine tree. He wasn’t there. A remarkable attractive and confident Bald Eagle has it home there. He must be out fishing I thought because if he was up in that tree he would have flew out already. An amazingly beautiful flight I had seen so many times before.

At this time I noticed that the sun had fallen behind the tree line making it pretty dark fast. I loved this beach, but knew how many animals crossed the same path that I do and honestly didn’t want to find out like that, if they were dog or coyote paw prints. My walk back to the 4 wheeler was a lot faster that the walk in. I walked directly back, not even taken a second to look around at anything. I had a nervous feeling like something was watching me. I like to think that it was the bald eagle waiting for me to hurry along so that he could return to his nest to watch for his next meal.

I also road the 4 wheeler back slower, I felt refreshed and relaxed.  It was like nature had washed over my body and cleaned out any negativity. That right there is one of the reasons I am a country girl and love living in Maine!

New Semester

My Story

I attended college directly after high school. I always wanted to get out of little down east Maine. So I applied for 3 colleges in MA near big cities. I got accepted to all and decided to attend the same one my best friend got into. Of course we were even roommates. It was a fun time, but I didn’t learn very much. I dropped out right after thanksgiving to return home.

After returning home I had several jobs until I found the “one”. I had got a job working with kids in crisis. It was challenging and rewarding all at the same time. I knew this is what I would do the rest of my life, until one day I got injured at work and broke my ankle. It was one of the strangest breaks my doctor had ever seen. Two surgeries later and a lot of damage to the inside I was forced to go on disability.

It was then that I decided that I needed to get an education to be able to get a job working with kids. The job that I had was too physical to return. It was then I decided that my dream was to be a Juvenile Probation officer.

This May I will graduate with my Associates in Liberal Studies and will continue on with my education at UMA to get my BA in Criminal Justice! It has taken me a long time as I have had children along the way. When I attend that graduation I will hold my head up high as I am the first one in my family to get a college education.