see ya!

So much for winter pictures... let's fast foward to summer! It's in the mid-nineties in Mexico right now, and I'm looking to do... oh... approximately NOTHING every day besides eat, drink, and lay on the beach....

Check ya later!!

Wrapping up 2009...

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?

Started making soaps, attended Dog Obedience Class, started a new job in a new town with a longer commute. Planned a trip and went to Provence. Bought a Buick. Met with a personal trainer. Went snowshoeing, Booked an all-inclusive.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?


Here's what I wrote last year: I haven't come up with anything solid. I am, of course, trying to cut back on the industrial-sized quantities of sweets and crap I've been shoveling down my gullet over the holidays and shape it up for some spring weddings we have coming. There...vague, huh?

Did I keep that... eh. Not so much. I mean, my size and food intake didn't really fluctuate throughout the year. So eh. That was a wash.

Resolutions for 2010:

• Write more. Like almost every day. I used to write in journals alot when I was younger. Sure, most of it was crap, but I still think there was worth in it.

• Stop thinking so much and start doing. Just take a step-- in any direction-- and see what happens. (yeah this isn't quantitative-- or as we say in the work world-- a S.M.A.R.T goal)...and I'm not sure how I'll keep it.

• Continue to work on eating less preserved foods. Grow more of our own.

• Spend more time in outside, in forests- hiking, snowshoeing, riding. I love that stuff, yet somehow always make excuses not to do it.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?



Friends Bridget and Dan have a new son, born in November.

4. Did anyone close to you die?



My grandmother. Although I wouldn't say we were close.

5. What countries did you visit?



France.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Some direction, especially in the 'what's next in our life' department.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why. Nothing specific.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Hm. Probably planning and going to France. It was a dream for a longtime to visit Provence, and it did not disappoint.

9. What was your biggest failure? I don't think anything was a failure this year particularly.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? No, thank goodness!

11. What was the best thing you bought? Our new car!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Darby O' Gilligan! though, his behavior more often merits punishment.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Oh Geez. Some people at work, for starters.

14. Where did most of your money go? Vacations, Cars, House.

15. What did you get really excited about? Planning trips and going on them. Planning remodeling the house and then doing it. Pretending we're moving and looking for pretend houses to live in.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009? That "I've got a Feeling" song by the Black Eyed Peas.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:


– happier or sadder? Happier, or the same.
– thinner or fatter? Same. Maybe a bit stronger, and definitely able to run farther and easier than a year ago.
– richer or poorer? Slightly richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

 Spending time in a way that makes me happy. Be more creative, visit friends more often. Write more letters.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Work. Commuting. Cleaning. Scheming with no result. Making excuses.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

First at Jed's parents, then down to mine. It wouldn't be Christmas without the running undercurrent of whose side of the family we are spending more time with and on what day, etc... Christmas eve was ours, which was nice. We baked chicken, opened presents and went to the midnight service.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009? I don't think so...

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Oh, probably still the Office. I don't watch much tv, but I always look forward to getting those DVDS for Christmas.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
 No.

24. What was the best book you read? I haven't read too much. I did enjoy Animal Vegetable Miracle and loved The Backyard Homestead so I now own it.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The Avett Brothers.

26. What did you want and get? Our kitchen finalized- the planning desk, the backsplash. It is finally DONE and looks so great.

27. What did you want and not get? A horse. This fall we fantasized about running up to Wisconsin to work with a horse that we could ride and play with for FREE... and then, there were inklings that that horse could be OURS... and none of it came to pass.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? My birthday was almost last year already, and we went snowshoeing at the Arboretum.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Knowing what I want to do in life and working towards it.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Either dressed up for work or dressed down for home. Black pants and heels or comfy pj pants.

32. What kept you sane?

Wine.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I did enjoy the lovely little snippets of Michelle Obama we got to see this year.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

I'm not going to say I was stirred, but having quality, affordable healthcare is important to me. Having slight experience with universal healthcare in other countries, I only hope our country can figure something ASAP. I think the part that stirred me the most was watching the ignorant arguments about the issues, not the issues themselves.

35. Who did you miss?
I miss my friend Melissa. It's been too long since we've seen each other, and it's always a nice 'reset' for me when we see each other...

36. Who was the best new person you met?

This is also an area to work on. I'm afraid that I'm losing more than gaining in the friends/warm acquaintances department. Some of Jed's work friends and one of my new employees are nice people, but I don't know that I'd classify them as 'best' new people we met.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. Some people really do get by on looks and lies. It's crazy, really...

Best wishes in 2010!

weekend, sans pics.

What a great weekend. I just love it up there.

I was all excited to start snapping photos when Darby jumped into their water garden and waded with the goldfish...

...but alas, *someone* forgot to pack the camera. So I'll just have to describe it....

We were lucky to have absolutely perfect weather- 70s with sun- slightly warm during the day (enough that I could work on a farmer's tan while working with the horses.)

Our days were filled with huge breakfasts (eggs we gathered ourselves, thick salty bacon, a huge bowl of fresh picked raspberries, coffee) and of course horses and more horses. We spent afternoons sitting in the shade near the water garden or on Harley lessons (Jed's up to driving in 1st speed around the front yard and down the driveway-- with no tipovers!), or kayaking down the tree-covered stream that borders the property (this was totally magical-- we felt like we were from Lord of the Rings, and I'm not positive, but I do believe we heard the theme song swell as we paddled under an especially enchanting tree which was completely arched over the stream like a bridge.) We always finished the day with a dinner on the grill and fresh apple crisp for dessert, from apples picked that day.

Since we were staying the longest and had the pups to contend with, were assigned to sleep on the back porch, which had its own entrance. It was a large, heated three season room with a wall of windows overlooking the gardens and back field. The sleeper bed was made up with soft sheets and a down comforter, which was perfect when temps dipped into the 60s overnight. I cranked all the windows wide open and pulled the blinds all the way up so we could see the moon and stars and listen to the crickets and water garden babble all night. We awoke to slow clear sunrises, dewy grass, and horse nickers. Since we were up with the dogs anyway, Jed and I volunteered for morning feeding duty. We poured grain for the chickens and the horses and threw huge armfuls of alfalfa in the pen for them to munch on. It was nice to get up before everyone else and enjoy the silence...

Oh sure, there were a few heated (explosive) political arguments, plenty of yelling at dogs (Poppy took off after Jed on the ATV into the forest, Darby galloped after the kayak-toting SUV down the driveway into the road). There was also a hand full of blisters from a nasty rope-burn after Jackson freaked when Ranger was separated from him... and he STILL wouldn't trot under saddle. I also strained/pulled my left inner-thigh-muscle after that challenging session, which finally ended in lots of frustration. And oh, did I mention we caught Darby eating and then promptly rolling in a pile of horse manure...?

But, overall, it was great. I know it'd be different if we actually *lived* there-- it'd somehow seem like less of a retreat. But for now, I'm not thinking of that. We played around looking at properties (which I mentioned in my last post), and it's so tempting to just DO it.... figure out a way. But I always do that with most any vacation destination we visit.

So... we're plugging along- enjoying our day off, until the week starts over again....

:::

Yep... I'd go back in a second.

everything I ever wanted and more...

As a kid, i had this recurring dream: I'd discover... just happen on... a horse that was lost, left, or magically kept (!) in my shed at home. I've played this scene out a hundred times in my dreams, and it is still vivid: I find the horse- usually at sunset- and discover that...wow!... our shed has been turned into a horse stall and OMG there are bridles and bits and brushes and everything just waiting for me, and I never knew it-- but there's not enough time-- it'll be night soon, and I only had so much time to run upstairs and put on my breeches, velvet hat and leather boots... I'd hop on and ride around (some variation here) -- my backyard, my neighborhood, or the woods behind our yard just before it got dark. The dream always ended, and the horse faded away somehow each time.

:::

When we got a short message that Jed's uncle invited us for a weekend to their little farmstead, I was skeptical. We've been running around each weekend for several weekends now, and the timing was just off, and we were busy, and it was summer, and excuses flow like water ... and...... what's that...??... You have horses that need some attention??.... When can we come?

Turns out the horses were Jackson and Ranger, a paint and pony pair who were mainly there to dress up the side of the yard. Jackson, who was purchased in 2008, did some shows and had a bit of training in his background, and they felt bad they hadn't given him the attention he deserved. So, we started slow-- lungeing-- which he picked up very quickly. We worked him through his gaits- where he exhibited a very nice trot and pretty smooth canter. I was pretty geared up to get on. I got on, and he was such a good boy-- sensitive to voice and leg/rein commands, and picked up all his gaits pretty easily. He was a bit spooky around the electric fence after (oops) my boot brushed it when we passed by, but other than that-- a good horse.

Today, when we did our morning exercise-- some more lungeing-- and then-- I stuck Jed on top to work through some of his gaits, he refused to trot. REFUSED. Walk, then this odd bucky-startoff to a canter. Hm. Jed off, me on. Same thing. Me off, more lungeing. Perfect. I was stumped. So, I got back on and decided to end on a good note-- walking figured 8 patterns with stop/starts.

Here's where I'm stumped. All the horses I've ever ridden, I've had someone around who knew MORE than me to fix the problem. I know that you can't let the horse 'win' in these situations, but I don't feel like I know enough to MAKE him do it right--- I felt too ameteur to do anything REALLY correct the problem. We were great the day before-- was it was me? the tack? the surroundings?

So I asked Carol if the person who trained him would mind coming out to give me a lesson. Hopefully she'll be available next weekend, when we go up for Labor Day.

We have the open invitiation to come up "whenever"-- and I hope we can take them up on it in a not-too-much or not-too-little kind of way. I look forward to going out, at our leisure, to work with Jackson-- the saddles, the bridles, the brushes-- all there waiting for me!

Kind of makes me want to be a little bit closer-- find a lovely place in Wisconsin with fruit trees, gardens, a stream out back, and plenty of land to.... ride...

camping!

...we're heading off for another round of camping today, and I'm super pumped that this week, weatherwise, has been complete and utter crap camping weather, except for TODAY! YAY!! Finally something works out for me in the camping department.

We're meeting up with friends for the day/evening, grilling some dinner over the fire, and hunkering down with the dogs for a night of cool sleeping.

I'm hoping everything goes smoothly, and we don't forget anything... but hey, if we do, there's a Target like 2 minutes away...

More pics to come!

Roughing it,

Me.

the great outdoors

On a whim to take advantage of the oddly cool July temperatures-- and to test out our tent (which we received as a wedding gift nearly three years ago and never opened)-- we decided to go camping. The thing with camping is that I never know that I want to go, until merely minutes before we start packing, so it's always a last minute scramble to see which park is open and... crap!... do we have bugspray? and where is that 3-in-1 tool that we'll probably not need but should bring anyway...??!

...so needless to say, our history with camping has been pretty rocky-- every single time we try, we spend hours loading up the car, lists in hand, packing what normal campers would probably bring for a two-weeks' stay, just to drive all the way to the campground and find all the spots are taken.

Right. So the planning started Friday, and I picked out a local forest preserve as our best option and this private park over 1 hour away as our backup. Of course, upon driving to the forest preserve only 1 hour after the camping office opened, all the spots were filled... hmmm. So ,we turned the car around and pointed towards Earlville, which I would totally tell you all about and post a link, except there aren't any. The don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it town has more barns than people, and I think I saw a field with two donkeys, but we were driving fast.

70-ish year-old Marilyn is the owner/manager, and she's turned her wood-paneled living room, into an office. A sign out front boasts that the park opened in 1979, and I think nothing has been updated since. Upon paying our $15 per person, we hopped onto Marilyn's golfcart and whizzed through some of the 40 acres of her property-- pointing out possible spots near the creek, or maybe the big yard... There were four total campers, so it was pretty quiet. The main campground circles around an elevated spring-fed pond, which is stocked and open for fishing, if that's your thing.

(trail around the pond)

We picked a spot near the creek-- the last spot before the trails in the woods-- and it was super quiet, except for the babbling water that rushed over a cluster of rocks at the bottom-- perfect.

Not sure if I paid attention to how huge the tent was when I flippantly click-added it on to registry at Target-- the thing measures 15' x 10', and that doesn't include the little doggy den on the side-- totally adorable!

our little campsite

Poppy posing in the doggy door

the inside-- huge! this fullsize bed only took up half the tent.

Wecould have easily fit a table/chairs in there, and it was 6 feet tall,

so you could stand all the way up.

Dinner was tinfoil 'hobo packs'--steak, potatoes, garlic, onions, and peppers, and baked beans, and then we read magazines and played cards. We enjoyed the campfire and some sprinkles, and then retreated inside when the sprinkles became rain. I don't think it actually rained that hard, but when you're laying under pieces of plastic that magnify each raindrop, it sounds like it's coming down pretty hard. Around 3:30, we both woke up to a crazy animal screeching noise (freaky... but probably just a raccoon or something) and bright lights of a patroling police officer. Of course, it was nothing (dude, this is Earlville, what else do they have to do,) but my mind started churning middle-of-the-night absurdities: what if the police officer is looking for someone...? why did he drive all the way out to our tent at 3:30am? i wonder if someone is on the loose... ??

Darby chewing his bone in the doggy den. He later cuddled up with us in bed, which was good, because it helped keep us warm!

Right... so back to bed and up at 8am with the dogs. Overall, I didn't sleep WELL, but it wasn't terrible. The mattress we brought was nice and cushy, and I didn't get cold. The dogs didn't stir too much, but they are wiped out today-- which means they didn't sleep well. Breakfast was exceptional- Jed can still cook a mean omelet over woodfire, and we made coffee with the frenchpress.

Jed cooking a cheese omelet. Also, our water boiling for coffee- on a piece of wood. Yeah.

So, Camping trip #1 is under our belts. There are things we definitely learned for next time-- like, buy one of those tri-pod cauldron holder things, because wood BURNS when you put it over the fire. And buy tongs, because it's hard to retrieve a scalding-hot pot with a stick...

Until next-time... when we'll pack lighter, prep more, and have more time to enjoy it all!

I think Darby was ready to go!

inconspicuous

Maybe she thought no one was looking.... and I thought that she didn't see me (lots of zoom.)

....At the least, I know that she was wrong!

back from Provence, but not yet to reality.

Here's the thing about fabulous vacations-- it's not just what happens while you're gone, but basking in the afterglow when you return.

Suddenly, I want my entire house to smell like lavender... I cut huge hydrangeas from the garden within 4 hours of landing in the states to put on the table, covered in my new French linen tablecloth. I want new embroidered sheets JUST like the freshly ironed ones we slept in in our b&b-- I SWEAR I'll iron them and spray them with lavender water every night and just snuggle right in...

Sigh. Vacation's over, but it hasn't really set in yet.

The night we landed back in Illinois, I thought to myself, as we were driving to the grocery store to pick up milk-- just 9 hours ago we were driving on the Grand Corniche, high above the Mediterranean, staring into its million shades of aqua. And now I'm at Jewel. We passed no hills, no flourishing green forests, no ancient buildings, crumbling and charming. No crazy roundabouts. Just home.

:::

Any time you go on a trip, but I suspect.... especially when you visit any culture that is different than your own, you begin to think. We mused more than a few times on the trip that we should maybe/kindof/attempt/think/NO REALLY THIS TIME consider the logistics of trying to move overseas. We love the pace of life, the charm, the history, the surroundings.... the fact that within several hours of driving, we had crossed the nearly the entire terrain of the whole of the United States- mountains, plains, forests, hills, and of course, the gorgeous coastline.

But, would I be bored living in a little town? Would walking to the Boulangerie each day to pick up our baguette be perfectly romantic or insanely boring? Would learning a new language and struggling without friends of family nearby be too much to handle?

Is the life you lead when you're on vacation a *real* life... of course, no. My realistic side chimes in-- what about work? where are you going to live? Then the Practical Adding Machine in my head starts tallying up all the VERY PRACTICAL REASONS why it would NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS work, and the whole thing shorts a circuit and dies.

Maybe I'll just buy the embroidered sheets...

Oh, but.... life is short. And France is beautiful.....

Un!

Blastoff! We'll be in France tomorrow morning!

I'm re-reading packing lists, combing through the house making sure all is in order... why is it when you pack for a big trip, you *always* feel like you're forgetting something--- is the curling iron plugged in? the garage door left open? did I remember to shut the hose off?

All that aside, we're super excited and ready to see, with our own eyes-- and our own camera-- just how gorgeous it is! Hope for a safe flight, gorgeous weather, and most importantly,

that we truly don't need air-conditioning in July in the South of France. Those thick stone walls better do their magic...

Eze Village-- our b&b is somewhere on the top there. We'll be sure to take a full report on the exact blue of the mediterranean, because there *has* to be some photoshopping going on here, but I wouldn't be surprised if I was wrong....

Bon Voyage!

Deux

Can you smell the lavender?

It's in full bloom when we arrive!

Trois...

the countdown begins....

just like I ordered it...

The 10-day in Provence:

No matter if you can't see it-- or read French-- actually.

Just sun, sun, sun, sun.... endless sun....

so nice.

I caught this post while I was browsing several blogs dedicated to Provence.

I just thought this was so nice, it was worth sharing. Enjoy.

findings

I found this little gem while doing a search for "provence" and "victoria magazine" (I was hoping there might be some inspirational photos and articles among the 10 years of back Victoria magazines I've held onto throughout the years.)

I'm loving this little blog right now... She gets lost in her thoughts sometimes, but I really like it. Actually, I wish I could be a bit more like that. Perhaps when I kick the 8-5,retire to France and live in a gorgeous stone house surrounded by fabulous family and friends, living the gracious life, it'll come easier.

**See! There I go again with my cynical 'maybe if things were different, then...' attitude. BWAGH!!!*** Which is precisely why I'm liking her blog right now. It's so anti- 'if this, then that' mentality. So tough for me. Anyway. It's a nice addition to the daily perusals. I get a bit bored of the mommy-crafting types, and I have to start cycling in some new stuff every now and then.

Also, great browsing for a rainy day. I can't wait to sit down and read this cookbook:

I leafed through some of pages, which hold gardening tips, harvesting and cooking instructions, and I just *love* how many photos are in this book. It really has such a down-to-earth, grassroots feel. Photos inside capture the wafts of smoke from an impromptu grilling session in a field or the flickering candlelight of an outdoor dinner gone into the night. I just *love* the feeling of it all, and it makes me want to get out and start planting STAT. If only the rain would stop for half a second around here.

Your Dream Childhood Universe

One of the more humorous translation issues I've encountered in our overseas b&b search...

What exactly is a Merlin Color and why do I need to be worried about being protected from evil spirits?

Weekend wrapup...

Weeell, it was a fascinating one, let me tell you...

Mainly tied up with deciding our 2nd location in Provence. Come to think of it, I can't even remember what we did on Friday-- probably because the days are running together with staring at this computer, bouncing between tripadvisor, homelidays.com, and gites-de-france.com. Saturday was spent sleeping in, refining the search, and emailing a new crop of b&b's. Followed by staring intently at the inbox waiting for responses. Then remembering that France is 6 hours ahead and it was definitely past midnight over there.

Sunday, I awoke at 2am to the Ipod touch beeping a little email alert... !! EEEE! It was 8am in France and someone had emailed us back! I DID wait until 8am OUR TIME to check it, but dreams of which idyllic location it could be entered my head a few times in those few hours...

Turns out it was the grand Les Trois Sources in beautiful Bonneiux. The rooms I were drooling over, of course, fell in the 120-140Euro category (too pricey for this leg of the trip...)

Turns out our room would have looked more like this:

Am I complaining? Heck no! But at 90Euro, we'd still have two twin beds (there was a language barrier regarding whether they could be pushed into a King, so I didn't belabor the point.)

So, luckily, another little gem emailed back... I'd been fascinated by the website for awhile now, though photos of the actual lodging were somewhat elusive. With some digging, I was able to find an alternative website, including room photos. There are only two rooms, so I'm thinking this is ours.

So, that's pretty much the second leg of our trip. We'll be staying in Oppede, one of the little towns in the Luberon. From what we've read, it's a nearly deserted medieval town that has recently started to be refurbished. Our place is right outside of Oppede (1km), and I'm very much looking forward to hiking up the old stone stairways to the old town.

So. The final leg just needs to be planned... the westernmost part of the trip near the Camargue-- the land of the white horses, bulls, and Spanish influence...We got a taste of that ( kind of...) over Valentine's Day, when we went to what used to be Emilio's, (now called Cafe Galicia.) We feasted on my favorite of all time--- garlic potato salad and sangria, as well as other tapas. I can only hope that we are as well fed on the trip!