Much Needed Squeeze!

Just stopped in for a much needed squeeze, so thanks to all of you, it was received...a tough week for me , details later, not to worry though not a health problem just a minor setback in my field of dreams, I will share later...suffice it to say, when a door slams , it gets your attention....

Hope this is a better week..for us all...if you haven't called your Grandpa Smith lately use 1 813 938 5116 and tell him hello!

Still waiting on Spring...brrrrrrrrr!

Marion

Joanne in the hizzy

Good Morning - we are on paycation with Megan so life is good! She walked me through this blog thing so now I'm good to go - will update how the day went later. See you then!

Sunny Sunday

Hi All;

I think we are having the first sunny sunday since november, or at least sunny and above freezing. Will be making sugar syrup to feed a wild hive of bees that somehow managed to survive this brutal winter. I was walking past the old hive two weeks ago and decided to crack open the top and to my surprise there were very active bees running around. Assembling new hives as well for new arrivals at the end of april. So Spring cannot be far away.............

The chicks have started laying again as well. Time to start to cleaning up the wreckage from the winter. Branches, stray trash, porch furniture, lighter tools and the odd bit of house parts, that the winds have thrown, broken or ripped off.

Very tiny bits of green are beginning to show, so the promise of warmer days is at least assured.

Carlene, was of course radiant and out shone all others on the stage of her school play. The show was so good I went twice and was entertained and amused completely. it was really great!

Megan is off to Florida to party with Dad for a few days of well deserved r&r.

Carlene and I have already been discussing the summer schedule, so If anyone has plans that we should know about let us know. July 4 is on a monday so a long weekend will be nice..

Hoping to see everyone somewhere soon

Mark

all my bags are packed, i'm ready to go....

Well, my bags are almost packed but I am definitely ready to go to FLORIDA and visit gramps. Now that I'm getting ready to go, Philly is trying to keep me here with 75 degree weather today!

A brief recap on what I have been up to the past few weeks:

-School, Finals, and now I'm done! I have the next week off for spring break (hence the visit to Florida). I resume my Third trimester after break which finishes up early June and then I head into summer classes.

-I traveled home to see Carlene in the Seussical. She was fabulous of course. It was also the same play I did my senior year (way to go Southern Cayuga) so it was fun to see it all again (even though the costume I wore was decidedly better than this years).

-I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show! Student tickets are reasonable and one of my friends from school came with me. How amazingggg. It was beautiful and a tease because I dont have the ability to create anything even remotely close with any garden I may have anytime soon. Lots and lots and Loooots of orchids and other flowers kept me thinking of certain someone near and dear to flowers and my heart ;). I returned home with a fun item I found at the vendors...Wine slushie mix. Also, the card of a jeweler that takes real flowers (orchids, roses, etc.) and glazes them and turns them into necklaces, earrings, hairpins, broaches, etc. I cannot afford them but theres always a dream of a special occasion! Here ya go aunties:

http://www.hanamiusa.com/category_s/59.htm

-Did I mention I'm going to Florida? I just cannot wait. My mission will be to introduce Grandpa to the blog. And get some sun.

-I had a large gathering here last night for St. Patty's. I made a boiled dinner with the standard 6 lbs corned beef and 2 cabbages, 2 bags carrots, and 5 lbs potatoes. It was consumed in its entirety except for a few stray veggies that I will be making into stew. Being that it was mostly creative arts friends, we had large irish jam sesh too. Very good times.

That is all for me! Possibly more stories to come soon. Its good to hear from everyone :D

Love, Megan

emerging from the shadows of homework.

HERE I AM.
HELLO FAMILY.
I admit I moooostly scanned the earlier posts, though I picked up keywords: olives(YUM), snow(meh),suessical(YAY!), wedding!, the passing of george(way not to tell me, mom?), and the like, so I'd like to imagine Im pretty up to date on all things FAM.
as for me. I pretty much do homework all the time.
Im trying to document it all, so Ill post my tumblr link in case anyones interested in checking it out. Its all assignments as sadly, in art school, there is not a whole lot of time for ones own art.
but ENJOY none the less. I miss you and love you all! go team.
Love,em

http://feedingthegoodwolf.tumblr.com/

suess!!!!

had the best most stressful 2 make-up'ed hairsprayed 3 days ever! it was crazy and sleep deprived but i loved every minute of it! :) i was nervous for all of 30 seconds and then i hit that stage and i cant wait to do it again next year :)! i did forget to take pictures though oops...i know lots of people who did though so ill ask for some. no big part this year but i got some compliments so maybe next year :) we'll be putting on a spring play but im nopt sure which one yet :) miss everyone and i wish you could have been there :) i can't believe i didnt start this sooner :) love you all :) xoxoxo :)

SENDING OUT A SPECIAL LOVE HUG BEAM....TO JERRY AND ALISON

Hope that leg was broken!~ George no more~ Geese have arrived~Boiling Sap

Well!!! Carlene I hope you had a great time !!!!, last time we were with YOU you were practicing furious~ly w/ Megan on the piano for the tryouts....so I guess tryouts went well and I hope the play did, too, and make-up was bought and applied and that there are pictures for ME!!!!!

Sadness for Japan...the pictures are hard to look at...

It is hard to get used to the quiet outdoors, George , our 7-8 yr old rooster did not make it through this long winter... a credit to his species...I was hurt by him more than once, he ruined a favorite pair of slacks and regularly created havoc when we had to clean or do anything near the hens...just doing his job, I guess..but I often called him bad words that he really deserved..and since several of the eggs in my fridge are fertilized he was doing it right up 'til the end...tried to find his picture but since I am already down an hour (HATE DST) today I give up and will show the geese returning yesterday...they are "our" geese because they came right up to the deck looking for corn...which is what we give them before they disappear to their nests until we see the goslings...and we had corn! ..It's hard to know who is Fred and Ethel and Lucy and Desi , but 7 returned yesterday ...last summer there were the two pairs and each had five goslings that we saw get pretty big until once again they go somewhere to grow those flight feathers...7? yes, well I don't know what happened to number eight as they should have returned in pairs...the clear path that has melted was our snowblown path to the bird feeder...front yard still has a few more feet to melt..

Made a cup (yes, well) a maple syrup yesterday...definately not a winning economic equation...making syrup..but there must be something that drives us to boil...and today we are boiling again...

..off to knit ...hahahahahahahhhahehhehehehehhehehhhaaahhhhhhhhhhdhghhghghghgggggggh

Look for an e-mail from me today~and READ it (please)!

LUV, Marion

..

Sooo much to read so little time :)

well im not the greatest of keeping track of my e-mail but i do try :). i finally checked it and got to the blog and theres so much here to catch up on...i think it'll have to wait because im sapposed to be doing my homework but am fiddling a bit with my new laptop before mom's conks out permanently. sooooo busy! our SCCS SEUSICAL THE MUSICAL is next weekend and im just coming off of strep and then a bit of a rash from the stupid strep anti-biotics! ay ay ay! but i can't wait to get up on the stage :) we have crazy costumes and fantastically insane makeup! yikes! i went shopping to get the make-up and i pose a question..why are there so many different kinds!? its exausting trying to pick the right kind :P. buut i think its all coming together and i havent started rhyming everything for over-suess exposure so i think its all good :) im missing florida and the beach and all the family trapped in our many different storms and busy schedules and hope to see people soon wish me luck but i wudnt suggest the "break a leg" line...with my luck i just might ;) love you all lots and am hopeing aunt joanne would remind me which pictures from florida she wanted me to send :)

~carlene <3

Mark your Calendars and Start Looking for A Party Frock!

Hello Family! 

I finally had the time to sit down and join the blog! So, the big news is a date is set for the big day, June, 30 2012! We booked a place too, it's called the Oldfield Club http://oldfieldclub.reachlocal.net/  You can check it out in the "photos" section on the website. It was like love at first site when Joe and I walked in there, we knew it was perfect from the moment we walked in. This being said, there was also 1.5 ft of snow on the ground and we still fell in love with it <3>

Although we are very excited about wedding planning, our weekends for the past two months now have been consumed with working. Joe's parents own a house in Patchogue, NY (which is east of where we live now-about 35-40 mins) and they were renting to a family for a total of 15 years. Well, the renters have moved out and Joe, me and his parents have been working on the house since they moved out. Let's just put it this way- the people who were living there did not clean for probably 14 of the years that they were there, so needless to say we have been busy cleaning, painting every surface, and the bathrooms will be ripped out in the upcoming weekends. So, the bottom line of our involvement with the house is that Joe and I cannot afford to buy/live there together yet, but after the house is renovated, Joe will start to rent from his parents (possibly find a housemate to save $) and we will look into buying the house from his parents eventually, and I will most likely move in within the next 9-12 months. I'll stay living at home for now and working where I am for now (5 mins away from my parents house in huntington). I will be looking to move on from my current job to pursue another opportunity further east offering me compensation that is comparable to my degree. 

 Joe and I visited Philly last year before Megan and Dan moved there, and we took a pic in the same place too:)

So, that's all the big news for now, will keep everyone updated with future plans. Looking forward to hearing from you all! Hoping for some sunshine and warmer temps here, dreaming about palm trees and clear water, as always...