Duquesne

This past weekend I was asked to travel to the Duquesne Light area in Pittsburgh, PA to help some of my co-workers launch their new program. The drive there was scheduled to last around 4.5 hrs.; however, after going 3 miles in two hours - we realized something was REALLY wrong. Apparently they CLOSED I-70...WHO DOES THAT!? Both sides of 70 were directed to leave the highway, go back roads until the next exit and then get back on. But hey at least we were entertained by the teenage kids figuring out another way to use their traffic jam time...ahem, she kept disappearing...ICK! We arrived only a little bit late to meet up with a handful of my co-workers. Saturday we helped at a launch event for the Duquesne Light - Residential Lighting Program. On Sunday, we got FULL USE out of our tickets to Mother Earth News Fair. We attended a few of the seminars - visited all the booths - dreamed about our off-grid farm and realize more and more each day about how "doable" the whole idea is. We got some goodies too! Information, a book, a spearmint plant, a lavender plant...Oh! We also learned about a new method for bee keeping! Check out BeeLanding - this guy is amazing. He's sharp and helpful and if you are AT ALL thinking of becoming a keeper - he will be a great resource for you.
We got back late Sunday and are still trying to catch up from the weekend.
I was able to have a sit down with our new Senior Manager this weekend and have a renewed excitement for my job. I've always loved my job - but this gives me an idea of what my future looks like...and it looks bright!!!!!

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow...

A while back, Mark and I took a trip to Amish country in Northeast Ohio and were introduced to the wonder that is Lehmans. If you don't know what that is...you should. Lehmans has every non-electric, wood-powered, propane-powered, human-powered trinket imaginable. Their business caters to the Amish community that surrounds them. They have a hand clothes washer, compostable toilets, wood heat stoves....essentially my heaven (OK, I could do without the toilets :-)). So this weekend they are having a sale, which includes samples, demonstrations and more. We decided to get up at the crack of dawn yesterday morning and make the long trek to Kidron to let our children experience this store, this community and the Amish way of life.
Most of our children were very excited about our adventure; however, Gage, our city boy, was none to thrilled. We explained that sometimes we do things that accommodate things he thinks is fun (our recent trip to NYC) and sometimes we do things that the rest of us like. Drake stopped in the middle of the store - looked at me and said "Mommy, I LOVE this store" - he and Cora wanted to buy one of everything :-) (so did I!). After the store, we drove through the rolling hills of the Kidron, Millersburg area and saw so many beautiful farms and horses. We passed a ton of black, horse drawn carriages...some with open tops so they can enjoy the beautiful day. Some had just single young men, others had older couples (just a man and a woman), and some were filled to the brim with mama, papa and a handful of kids...little girls decked out in their bonnets. I am so fascinated by this culture. Did I mention that Gage said "Yeah! I thought it was really cool!!!"...when asked what he thought about our adventure.
Today we are going to A Wool Gathering at Youngs Jersey Dairy, outside of Yellow Springs, Ohio. Apparently they are going to have a number of wool vendors, sheep shearing demonstrations and yummy ice cream.
Next weekend Mark and I are going to go for our get-away weekend. Courtesy of my work :-) One of our programs needs help in the Pittsburgh area, so Mark and I are making the drive there and staying a couple of nights. We were trying to look for a way to spend our Sunday and an amazing opportunity fell into our lap! The Unusually Unusual Farmchick offered two free tickets to the Mother Earth News Fair...and Mark WON! We are going to try to sneak over there on Saturday too...but Sunday is going to be FILLED with learning about sustainable living...another GIANT leap toward our own sustainable farm life.
Last night Mark and I perused some of the land available in this area (online listings)...and drooled over a couple of the plots and one old farmhouse in particular. The plan is to build our dream...but if we can find something that someone has already built and it fits all of our needs we'll be happy to take it off their hands.
I wonder where life is taking us...I get frustrated but I think that is a twinkle of light I see at the end of this VERY long tunnel.

I'm looking forward too...

Fresh eggs.
Sitting on the porch/patio with Mark and watching the kids explore our land.
Drinking sun tea with our own herbs mixed in.
Picking through our harvest.
Having a big island in our kitchen for canning.
Bread dough rising near the fire.
Watching movies on the side of our barn.
Watching the chickens scavenging through the yard.
Watching the goats play around.
Having time to stare, relax, crochet.
Taking a shower in our outdoor shower after a hot day in the garden.
Looking into a pantry filled with veggies and fruit from our garden.
Making apple crisp and apple pie from our very own apples.
Taking a tractor ride to the back lot and letting the kids pick out their own pumpkin.
A pot of soup made from our fresh veggies.
Having our dining room table in the middle of the room so no one is stuck in their seat and we can freely move around the table.
Dinners at the kitchen table (rather than TV trays).
Going an entire weekend without turning on the TV or playing on the computer (especially for the kids).
Being prepared.
Snuggling up on our extra long couches and watching the fire.
Having a great kitchen where we can bake, cook, create our hearts out.
Having a dedicated area for the sewing machines so we can just hop on and be creative.
Swinging on a hammock with Mark, watching a spring rain sweep through our land.
Having an area outside good for cooking out.
Eating peaches and pear, still warm from the sun.
Compost bins.
Fresh honey.
Rows and rows of berries - blackberries, raspberries, black-raspberries, strawberries.
Fresh grapes.
Having a space for everything.
Being organized.
A comfy spot to be lazy on our patio.
Homeownership.
Landownership.
Finding an old barn to tear down and use the wood to create elements of our new home.
Driving the nails into the wood to form our home.
Not living in the ghetto.
Challenging Mark to a game of scrabble on our game board end table.
Hearing the "clank" sound of our bottles as Mark and I "cheers" to a dream come true.

Fall Cleaning!

Oh my goodness! Who knew that my kids were such pigs!? Their room was TRASHED!! Mark and I have been trying to let it go...thinking that eventually they will get sick of it and just clean it - we tell them to clean it and it becomes this big fight about stuff not being theirs. So Mark and I are in the process of gutting their room...GUTTING! We've dumped every toy in their closet onto their floor and played keep or toss...we've gone through every book on their bookcases and figured out if there were actually going to read them - if not...we are donating them. We've gone completely through their dressers to donate old clothes and figured out what needs to be displayed on top of their dresser vs. what is just a special item that can be put in their own tote. We've moved the computer desk out of their room and into the living room. We've actually gone as far as moving out the beds and dressers to wipe down the walls and vacuum behind them (we are donating four BIG boxes of toys and books...not to mention what we've already taken in clothes!) But...when it is all said and done, the room will be a much nicer place for them...and with the coming of cooler weather and less travel - they will have more of an opportunity to clean the room themselves and keep it nice.

We are trying to do our ultimate spring cleaning...now that it is almost fall...to make this apartment a nicer place to live. I know with Ohio winters we will be spending much of our time inside and we need to have space to be able to spread out a bit.

Shhh! Don't tell my kids what day it is tomorrow!

Haircuts...Check!
Go through the clothes and find out who needs what...Check!
Buy new backpacks...Check!
School supplies...Check, Check, Check!
Cora's hair dyed raspberry...Check!
Drake's hair dyed blue...Check!
Gage's hair dyed Midnight blue...Check!
Met Drake and Cora's teacher...Check and Check!

It is close to bedtime at the Roberts' and the kids are ready for a brand new school year. I find it unbelievable that Gage is going into 7th grade, Drake 4th and Cora is in 1st. Kait is starting her sophomore year in college. I'm not ready for my kids to grow up this fast. Don't get me wrong...I find it awesome and amazing to watch them grow into these the incredible human beings - so different and complimentary, so sweet and conscious of others feelings (most times), so wild and crazy and yet very well behaved. I'm proud of my kids. Sometimes though it is hard to stretch out that umbilical cord and hopefully, one day, I'll be ready to cut it.

YARIS!

As we work to build our credit and our new life, we have found that driving our minivan for the primary source of transportation is just not working out so well. It puts a ton of miles on the van (that already has 120,000+ miles) and it wastes gas...we just feel very wasteful driving it when we only have one or two of us in the car. Frankly, "the brown car" - our older Honda is just not reliable enough for a steady work car for me. So we went spontaneously car shopping...We have always known that we want a little car...we dream of a Prius...but know that we'd love a Toyota/Honda - something that uses barely any gas and will last forEVER...FOR - EVER. So I submitted a credit application and two days later we left the lot with a BRAND NEW 2010 TOYOTA YARIS! We are super excited! She is candy apple red...has five doors (2-front, 2-rear and a hatchback), has 7 cup/bottle holders, awesome storage, a decent trunk space, AND the rear seats fold down (which will be great for work and play). I'm so excited that we were able to qualify...I mean, don't get me wrong, we did get a sucky interest rate and a long payment period - but hopefully we can refinance as we work on our credit even more (after 1-2 years?) BUT we have a NEW, RELIABLE, BABY CAR! So STOKED! Now, all I need is a promotion :-) Oh! and a farm...and that's all I need...and that goat, and an apple tree...and a couple of chickens...but that's all I need.

Philly, NYC, Hershey, Atlantic City...Oh My!

I'm awake...Mark had a difficult time trying to sleep and I decided to get up and join him. I thought I might be his comical relief...but I'm just sitting here like a lump....staring...sleepy eyed...not very comical...but I'm here.

We had a crazy trip last week. Two weeks ago today I was notified by my company that they needed some help with their Philadelphia program and they asked if I would be able to come and help for a few days/week. Mark and I were going to make the trip together and then the three little ones decided they wanted to tag along too.

We left on Saturday morning...it's about a 10 hr. drive from here to there...but on the way in we decided to make a pitstop at Hershey's Chocolate World. We rode the ride, we sampled the chocolate, we bought some goodies...and we got back on the rode. An hour and 1/2 later (ish) we were checked into our hotel in King of Prussia. Sunday morning we got up and made the just over 2 hr. drive to NYC for Mr. Gage's birthday!! Gage is definitely my city boy and loves everything that the bright lights of New York have to offer. This was our first time getting out of the car and really being able to explore the city. We parked near Central Park and climbed the rock structures there, we walked down Madison Ave and 5th, we went into the Trump Tower and made our way down to the Empire State Building (with a limited budget...just a glimpse from the outside would have to do this time)...After that, we made our way back up Broadway and through Times Square...we got to see the magical "ball" and I realized it was MUCH smaller than I expected. The trip was amazing and I'm so glad we were able to do it!
Back in Philly, I had a ton of work to do...but we were able to fit in a couple of side trips between work. We made our way into downtown Philadelphia and saw the Liberty Bell, toured Independence Hall and stood in the rooms where the Declaration and the Constitution were signed and took a walk through Chinatown. Finally, on our last night there, we took a drive over to Atlantic City...dude, this place is a fairly shifty. I guess I had mini-Vegas strip in my mind...but it was more like casino - scary ass ghetto - casino - scary ass ghetto...not really a place that I'd got to "hang"...we just parked at the Taj Garaj...we walked into the Taj Mahal and I introduced the kids to the wonderful world of slot machines (I truly hate slots...but they were on the edge of the main hall and the kids wanted to see what those things actually did...BTW, I'm up $5!), we walked out onto the boardwalk...all the way to the end...past the rides and games...we walked out onto the beach and dig our toes into the sand...the dirty, yucky sand - but hey, it counts! We let the water run over our feet (and in the kids case...their entire legs, some of their shirt etc). Once we sat on the bench on the boardwalk for a bit we decided we should head back to the hotel. Oh! I nearly forgot...they had this big, circular, birdcage type thing out on the boardwalk, near the taj Mahal...at around 10:30p or so, they had a family (Dad, Mom and two kids) come out and ride their motorcycles in the cage...one at a time, doing 360's, multiple people in at once, a little girl standing there while her dad rode around her...scary and cool at the same time...the kids thought it was amazing.
I'm so fortunate that my work allows us these occasional trips...that I can take advantage of a free hotel room and while I might be putting in long hours...it also allows us to play and adventure as a family and do things we were certainly not expecting to do. This unexpected trip will hopefully get our family through another couple of months in the ghetto...before our next adventure and hopefully (eventually) the ultimate adventure of moving!