Monday Musings

Monday morning always seems to come so early.  John's alarm goes off at 530am (he's adjusted his schedule to take a class on Wednesdays) and well I have been listening to the birds since the wee hours of daylight.  I almost look forward to the hot days of July when my air conditioner can drown out those "fowl" critters!  I haven't exactly been waking up on the right side of the bed as of late and this morning was no exception.

I stumbled downstairs to let Scout outside and make my lunch.  I popped a bagel in the toaster as I got my fruit and yogurt out of the fridge.  I managed to catch a few minutes of the local news while scarfing my breakfast.  Then I trudge back upstairs to get washed up and dressed.  I didn't turn the lights on in the closet while I pulled out my scrubs and my underwear.  I know where everything is kept and don't need the aid of a light to help me pick out my clothes.

Well on any other day that would've been fine.  It was about 10am this morning that I strolled off to the bathroom at work.  Much to my chagrin, I was wearing crotchless panties courtesy of the small dog.  Awesome, excellent I thought as I examined the gaping hole in my underwear.  So moral of the story, take the extra second to turn the light on and inspect your clothes before you put them on.

How do you spell perfect?

It's the end of a beautiful weekend here in the Lakes Region.  I got to spend a lot of time sitting out in my yard enjoying the wonderful weather.  After a round of rain and thunderstorms that last all of last week, Saturday dawned bright and blue.  I took in Market Square Day with Megan and Max as we cheered on Karen during her first 10k.  I am just thankful I didn't sign up to run as well.  Saturday afternoon had me taking in another wonderful New England tradition of a good old fashioned pig roast.  It was tasty to say the least!

I managed to drag myself out of my peaceful reverie on Sunday morning to take Scout on a four mile run.  It was only one of two runs I got in last week due to weather and a very busy week at work.  Scout enjoyed getting out with me, but halfway through the run I wish we had gotten up just a big earlier.  The sun is quite warm this time of year and it heats the earth up pretty fast.

Our afternoon was spent out in our yard reading our books in our lawn chairs.  We had to keep moving our chairs to keep out of the sun's rays.  No sunburn for us thank you very much.  We still haven't put our air conditioners in the windows, but me thinks that day is coming soon as the weather starts to get warmer.  After all the summer solstice is only a few days away.  I also did a bit of wading in the pond and the water is just about warm enough to swim in.  The dog has managed two swims already this week.  She sure does love the water.

It's also bike week here in New Hampshire.  So be careful out on the roads this week!

Over the river and through the flooded plains

like a drowned rat

Saturday morning was a gray, cold, and rainy one here in New Hampshire.  As I padded through the bay of the fire station towards my muffin I scowled at the wet parking lot.  We had another road race in a few hours and the weather was not going to be in our favor.  Actually it was in my favor because it sure beats 85 and humid.  We did this race with Megan and Phoebe.  I have to thank Karen for her picture taking skills while holding an umbrella!  It was a surprisingly refreshing course that took as the name of the race stated over the river and through the woods.  I got to see a neat little part of Concord that I never knew was there.  One part of the course made me stop just to take in the sight of the lush green carpet and the tall pines looming overhead as far as the eye could see.  It was breathtaking.

Meg, me, and John trying to stay dry

I have seem to have lost my mojo for most things this past week as I have been plowing through the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy.  I have maybe knit three rows on my sweater and forget running.  I did manage one day on the treadmill this week.  I definitely wasn't feeling the best this morning after a shortened night at the fire station.  The cops had us out at 1am putting out an illegal campfire.  I did my race pacing Megan and even got her a PR.    It felt good to be out there with her.  We talked the whole time and I am not normally someone who likes to run and talk.  Guess that means we should hang out together more often.

apres race

Woke up on Sunday to another cloudy gray day.  After John got home from the station we headed up to Franklin to have breakfast at Ralph and Jo's Cafe.  Excellent place run by Rebecca and Brandy Underwood.  We'll be back for lunch!  We did our grocery shopping on the way home and then it became the lazy Sunday on the couch day.  Perfect weather for finishing my book and then enjoying a nap.  I did manage to get the top of my sweater completed as well.  All in all, despite the rain, it was the perfect weekend surrounded by good friends and great books.

Monday Musings...damn people from away

We got to sit out back and enjoy our first campfire of the season last night.  It sounded like summer with children screaming, dogs barking (not mine at the moment), and boats roaring around the pond.  And then the sun went down...bring on the fireworks.  Really??  Must you come up to your summer home and make noise ALL night.  Do you even realize that some of us live and work here year round?  That some of us do not get the luxury of a three day weekend and we must be up early for our jobs.  Nope apparently not.  I think next winter I need to find out where you live and take up camp next to your home and light off fireworks all night just to get even.  And really the only nights of the week we have noise around here are the weekends when all the people from away come up here to get "away" from it all.  Maybe you need to try to remember that for those of us that live here all the time, we also like to get away from the noise you insist upon making.  That's why we chose to live here because of the quiet.  At least Monday through Thursday is peaceful and quite enjoyable.

our pond on a quieter weekend last summer

So now we are back to Monday when the fools from away have gone back to their lives and the neighborhood can go on in relative quiet.  Unfortunately it's only a four day work week for them so they will be back in a few short days.  Oh how I dread the summer months here.  The grocery store is filled with rude pushy people who look at us locals with disdain as they go by with their carts filled with beer and ice.  It makes going to the store a real treat.  And I know tourism is great for the local economy, but one should really take a crash course in acting like a decent person before crossing the border.

Guess I am being a wee bit crabby for this Monday, but if I had gotten my 8 hours undisturbed I would be a happier camper this afternoon.  Now off to grumble some more....

A day off?? What's that?

I am taking a well deserved day off while John and his hiking buddy (the small dog) are off early again.  He is working his way through the Belknaps this weekend, but I just needed a day of doing not too much.  That and the amount of ticks he pulled off the two of them left me not wanting to go play in the woods.  I have a bike ride planned and hopefully I will make it more than 5 miles before I feel the need to turn around and head home.

Had a great day of golf yesterday.  It was a bit too hot for my liking and 18 holes seemed to take forever in the 90 degree heat.  We are back to normal seasonal temps today and I wish all the runners taking part in Boston's Run to Remember a great race.  Our next race is on June 2 up in Concord and I will be running with Megan and John.  That is one is part of the Capital Area Race series.  Then I believe we may have two weeks off until the Bow Lake 5k.  I really wanted to do the 15k, but we have beach cleanup early that morning and thought better of the extra miles.

my golf team

Colleen and I have one week until we make the decision to do our sprint tri.  I definitely think it is doable at this point.  I just haven't been in the water yet this year.  The pond may still be a little cold for that.  But I did dig out my bathing suit this morning and I just need to get the nerve up to hit the water.


The bike ride turned out beautifully this morning.  There was a nice chill in the air and I did 14 miles around Barnstead before returning home.  My next plan is to go sit outside and enjoy this wonderful weather because from what I hear it's all over after today!  I am okay with a lousy holiday forecast since I will be stuck at work for the day.  So enjoy!

FO Friday

Yay!  The week is finally over.  I managed a half day, but will have to go in over the weekend to do an eval.  Any excuse to get out early on a Friday is good with me.  We managed a quick dump run and now won't have to do that over the weekend.  Bonnie and I are "playing" golf in the morning while John and Scout head out on another hike.  Really with the weather forecast for the upper 80s, I am glad to be hitting the links instead.  If only I had known that today was going to be so lousy I would've waited until this afternoon to roast the chicken I did last night.  I think a sweatshirt may be in order before I head off to Explorers down at the station.

I finished John's sweater earlier in the week and I believe I have convinced John that he should sew the buttons on it for himself.  I have begun construction of a green wrap sweater.  I had so much knitting mojo over the last few months that I think I need a bit of a recovery period.  I can knit about two rows before I feel the need to get up and move onto something else....oh look a chicken!

Also need to give a shout out to my Explorers tonight for a wonderful job with training.  It was a warm and humid night and you guys rocked with SCBA training.  And tomorrow night I will participate in a little tower training.  We will be painting the flagpole.  I got roped into training like this...Deputy Chief to Mandy "Hey you want to do some tower training tomorrow evening around 5pm?"  I say, "Sure I would love that."  Then he says "We have to paint the flagpole."  And that's how it went down.  So if you are out and about in Barnstead tomorrow evening, you can find dinner and a show at Station 2.  Ok just make sure you bring enough dinner for me too!  And pie, I would love some pie!

Will I cross the finish line this evening?

It's been a few weeks and before that it was a few weeks and I have to say I am sad that I have been out of my Tuesday evening routine.  So tonight I will take my sticks and string and head to Knit Night down in Epsom.  I miss being surrounded by women of all ages as we create with our hands.  The gentle click of metals needles as they slide past each other or the muttered curse of a dropped stitch.  Okay, really that's just me!  But thankfully there is someone there who can solve life's little knitting problems.

I plan on finishing the cuff of John's sweater and weaving in the ends once I have cast off the final stitch.  It feels like a week ago that I started on it, but in reality it's been almost two months in the making.  Then I will be onto my next project for myself...another cute sweater for me to wear this winter.  I do have plans for a summer sweater and one would think this would be the perfect time to start it since it's short sleeve and will be made from linen, but I just don't have the hankering to start that one.  I want the pretty green Merino yarn, not the conch colored linen.

And just maybe I will have a picture of the finished sweater for FO Friday.  That means I am going to have to sew on buttons and we all know how I feel about that.  Not my favorite thing to do.  Or I could just hand them to John and have him do his own....let's see how that one goes.