ARC Girl

Alls quiet on the Pine Tree Front....

2008-10-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

ARC Girl at Oktoberfest 2008

Probably shouldn't say that because then all He-- will break loose..but my god it was quiet this week at ARC! Went to the Bangor office on Thursday to break the monotony, pickup some stuff etc and Hillary was feeling the pain too...looks like the "disaster Princesses" have no idea what to do with themselves when there is nothing to do! Literally we had no fires, almost no meetings no disasters, upheavels, major issues or anything to deal with this week....BOOOORINNG!!! So what do we do...catch up on all that stuff we don't have done? Yeah right! Like Lynn says..you guys don't know what to do with yourselves with nothing to do!!

Its true...I tried really really hard to finish up the Northeast Harbor cases which need to go into CAS and I did ...almost! I had a ton of health forms to put in...didn't....did start on my Emergency Services directors course stuff for the workshop at the end of the month...but really did not accomplish a grand lot this week!

Don started in Boothbay on Monday but was back by Tuesday night and worked at Hewes for the rest of the week...then of course all I heard was about the stock Market...had to check the internet before I talked to anyone, every evening...scary stuff. Glad I work for an agency that doesnt have any money to begin with...where can it go from here??

Tylers college fund is taking big hits though! Don't even open the retirement fund envelopes.

Heading to DC next weekend...Diva daughter had a play last weekend that I missed due to Oktoberfest...which was subdued this year!! but fun none the less.

She is designing the costumes for the Mainstage production this fall, so I will see that..and her internship companys show is up and running, will see that also. They have asked her to train with them. They said she has "the look" they want! Hmmm a real job...in theater even! We shall see!

So happy autumn all...oh and by the way...I am the proud owner of my very own ticket to the Drop Kick Murphys concert at UMO next month....god save the Princess!! Have to take Ty and Henry...yikes!

ARC girl

Updates from me!

2008-09-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

Hey less than a month and I am posting again....scary!! Things have actually quieted down at work, now that its "officially" fire season and we are getting at least one a day. NOT like this summer when entire villages burnt down, or major apartment complexes, or giant hurricanes as in 4 at a time hit the gulf! I mean really, what's a fire a day compared to all that?

This weekend was a little interesting as an unnamed storm on Thursday all of a sudden decided it needed to form into a Hurricane named Kyle on Friday and head north! Nice! It was a good exercise. Things that had been on my mind to do... like cleaning out the old shelter kits and redoing them..done! Labeling the new cots..done! Getting that order of comfort kits in....done!
Printing off the new forms and shelter handbooks...done! We were ready. Alot of volunteers put themselves on standby. The two affected EMA directors were great to work with, lots of calls and communication, and in the end, nothing to do...but it was good to have a few things in order.

Ty very busy with Soccer. Games or practices take up my afternoon schedule. Show choir and band going well also. Pep band has played at a couple of the games..funny to see the JV's get off the field grab their instruments and go play for the varsity game!

Oktoberfest this weekend...hope the weather is nice. I have alot to do between now and Saturday and little time to do it! good thing I can do this party with my eyes closed mostly!

Well before I fall asleep....good night everyone ARC Girl

Its the Middle of the Night....

2008-09-23T22:25:00.000-07:00

Hey, I have time to post....when else do I???? Now I get up at 6, shower, coffee, dry hair and then drice Tyler to school to be there by about 7:45...get some more coffee and head to the office. Check email, eat breakfast, and then start the day....of course the end of the day is now soccer games, practice or something like that in between...picking him up and feeding him and bringing him where he has to be next!

Just read Sib #2's blog who took her oldest off to College for the first time...wait till you do it for the third time and think...I am not sure she is coming home anymore....

And Sib #3, she can't catch a break with her achilles tendons.....and that is why they have that conotation of being you're "achilles"

Sib #5 is apparently engaged...no mass email here to announce this and I have not been formally told, but that is the word thru the grapevine

Lets see what else is going on in my world tonight at 1 am..oh yeah I am officially full time at ARC..duh, been that way for months but had to push to get the final paperwork on it!
Oh and hubby has a new job...In Boothbay Harbor...no we are not moving...he is ...sorta
Kinda one of those commuter kind of things...really good position with Hodgdon Yachts, CFO, and they gave him 4 day weeks, and housing etc. so works for everyone...

Well, I think this foot cramp which got me up in the first place has finally susided and maybe I can go back to bed...See you all in the AM, which means I probably wont see you here again!!
ARC girl

I'm BAAAAAACK.......maybe!

2008-09-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

So where has ARC GIRL been you ask??...Well lets see, the last day she blogged July 24..about 5 days later she got a phone call..5;30 am, downtown Northeast Harbor...on fire...Main Street, at least 3 buildings, apartments many homeless. out of control....ARC girls home town.

I drove over, got thru the barricades, parked the car and walked over hoses and past companys of trucks and men to find the chiefs of the operation, They were at the rear end of the buildings that were still completely engulfed. At least 18 homeless they said..not sure of whereabouts...

Hours later I had processed over 22 people, Hillary had come down, and then left, 14 Russian national students had been re housed. The State had been notified there would be documentation issues and I had started to help different organizations set up relief funds, centers and central contact places. It is now September and I am still picking up bits and pieces from this disaster. The home town girl just couldn't be allowed to get away....it was one of the most rewarding yet difficult disasters to date. I did PR, I did fundraising, I did foreign diplomacy and government liasion work, I did chapter health and client case work, I did disaster mental health and psychological first aid and most of all I gave back to a place that gave me alot growing up.

Thank god for Hurricane Season, so I could get out of Northeast Harbor!! Gustav, Hanna, Ike, and Josephine have wreaked havoc with my one week vacation and all the weekends in between as I deploy people and the ERV's to the south. Then the storms think about heading north and everyone up this way wants a volunteer, an ERV, a red cross!! Its the job you love to hate sometimes!!

Then there are the back to school duties..Ty in Ellsworth, JV soccer team, practices etc. Caroline back to DC, life is never dull. Believe me I can run circles around Sarah Palin!!
And quite frankly...The ARC girl is more qualified than her to be a heart beat away from the Presidency! I know CPR!!

Work for ARC? Use a Pencil on your Calendar!!!

2008-07-24T12:09:00.001-07:00

Ok...Typical DAY for ARC girl....Thursday July 24 2008 Schedule looks like this:

9:30-11am Volunteer subcommittee meeting at Jackson Lab for MDI Pan flu committee

12:30-4pm Ellsworth office

6pm Peninsula Ambulance Board meeting.

THEEEEN.....the ARC Board of Directors decides to have the Staff interview Patrick Adams for the Executive Directors Job...ok...Cancel Jax Lab meeting. Meanwhile find out that there is a Hancock County meeting regarding Heating crisis at 10am ...nope can't attend that either...have to go to Bangor for the Board meeting.

So, get up, drying hair..power goes out..damn...put hairdryer in car and head to Ellsworth office to get ready for Bangor meeting...phone rings.,.power out in Ellsworth and MDI...hmmm! Call Ralph Pinkham EMA director, he's on his way to EMA, doesn't know whats going on. Phone rings again...power out in Bangor, all of Penobscot county....Hmmmm! Head to EMA....Ralph is talking to the Hydro and MEMA in Augusta...Huge outage...ALL Bangor Hydro Customers are off line! Ok, so we are not going to Bangor today...that meeting is cancelled!!
Governor comes on radio stations that are on the air to say they are working on the issue.
Power comes up in Ellsworth first. Yeah!!!

Ralph and I decide to attend heating meeting...the 'third option' I had for the day..but didnt think I could attend because of Jax lab meeting, and Board meeting. Back to Ellsworth office at 12 noon, by 2pm...TORNADO watches!!!!! All the counties completely surrounding Hancock county...OK!! Me and toto know where to go, the basement at the courthouse!! Its not here in front of these floor to ceiling windows I can tell you that!!

Hillary calls...says "I want a schedule" so we can figure out where to be, how to dress, if we get a shower, and our hair done in the morning?????? Yeah Right!
Welcome to our world...
No Day is ever the same, and NO DAY is ever as you planned!!!

You can not keep a neat date book...so don't even try!!!!!!!!!!!! For some of us type A's this is a very hard thing to get over!!!!

ARC girl...hanging on to the Ruby slippers.

Why do they call it the "MOTHERBOARD?"

2008-07-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

So, why DO they call it the MOTHER BOARD??? Do you want to know why I haven't been posting...because of the Mother board...it died!!! Yes I turned my laptop on and it didnt turn on!!
Tried all the things you are supposed to do, no luck. Took it to my husbands office..he turned it on..nothing...took to the IT guy...nothing...so I took it to Circuit City...no Geek squad, but guys in Geeky green polos at a certain desk..."Guy" in polo turns it on...looks at it and then shuts the cover. Says to me..do you want the bad news or the good news first? Just tell me!!!

"Its the Mother Board" Now, I know nothing...NOTHING...about computers and electronics in general except the on/off switch, but I do KNOW that the word MOTHER BOARD means BIG trouble!!! He tells me its gone...so I say what is the good news about all this?? He says, all HP 6000 Mother Boards are failing and have been recalled...I say and this is a good thing????????
Yeah, because you get a new MOTHERBOARD! Well grand!! How much is this, and what about my data and when do I get my computer back??? Free, we will back up your data, and 7-10 days!!

Well, we are on day 5 now and ARC girl is suffering miserably without her laptop...at least she is in her office today with a computer to herself to play on!! It has not been fun! So why do they call it the Mother board..not the father board..because everyone has to have a mother?? Because females are the "control" of everything?? Huh?? I mean seriously why?? Did a man come up with this name?? I am guessing so!!

So what else is up...or down...as the situation may be??? Took three teens to a concert in Portland on Friday.. they had a blast, (Tyler and Kyle even ended up ON STAGE with the band!!) and I went to a barbeque with my sister in law and it ended up being Old Home Week with all these MDI people there!! Some I had not seen in years!
Came home and took Caroline and Aisha out to dinner for Care's 20th and Aishas last meal in the USA before three weeks in Africa on a Grant project. Then took Aisha to the Bus the next morning..She is an amazing young woman! I am so proud of that one!

Then to top it all off coming down the stairs the other night a couple of heavily framed portraits came down and one hit my leg directly on some veins, causing quite a bit of swelling and bruising and alot of pain. I was petrified I was going to have phlebitis or compartment syndrome or something the way it was looking...it went down a little overnight and then I had it looked at the next day..out of work for a day and I am back...no worse for the wear... a little swollen and black and blue...

Well the office is very warm today, no AC for ARC girl...don't want to overstay my welcome today!! Have a good one...and take care of your MOTHER>>board!

People...Keep your fires to yourself!!

2008-07-07T10:55:00.000-07:00

You wonder where I've been? ARC girl, deputy director of disaster etc...has her hands full!
What on earth is wrong with people..its summer! In the past week..we have had two apartment fires two trailer fires and three house fires!!!!! IN one WEEK!!!!!!!!! three of them over the 4th!! Not sure what the problem is here but it's one-a-day...two in one town!! Lots of homeless people!! Now if this was the middle of heating season, that would be one thing....NOPE!!!
DO NOT leave your citronella candles burning, or your cigarettes burning out on your porches...!!! And if that was not enough, there were three terrible car accidents on the Blue Hill Peninsula this weekend that invovled kids, life flight helicopters and two deaths from a burning auto..not pretty.

BUT on a nicer note, the weather was perfect for the weekend. Attended the Brooklin Parade, a very small community parade that the former owner of the Sedgwick Store used to have a float in (moi!) and win first prize every year!! Then had some fun friends over for a barbeque, hung around the house on Saturday working on my poor neglected flower beds and pots and enjoying my backyard, the Reach, and the sunshine.

Busy week this week, travel to Washington County, Staff meeting in Bangor and then..taking three teenagers to a rock concert on Friday!!! Wish me luck on that one!!
I'll be "Shippin' up to Portland" for DKM...luckily I am not a ticket holder, just a chauffeur...dont mind the music, but only for about 30 minutes or so..then it starts to sound the same!!
So this should keep me off the list...until next time, "Tessie is the maiden....

Summer in SEDGWICK yoo hoo!

2008-06-27T19:43:00.000-07:00

So I have not fallen off the face of the Earth...YET!!! Just a little on the busy side..!! As you can see by the pics Tyler graduated from Sedgwick..Handsome as ever..Class Salutatorian!! Just like his Mom in Junior High. Before he gave his speech, he said "I want to make one thing clear..My mom made me wear this!!" I sure did and he looked Fantastic!! As you all can see..he actually picked out most of the attire! I just steered him the direction of the Mens department instead of the skate board department!!

After Graduation we had a party at the house for family and close friends, that Tyler wanted, including girl friend Becky and her Dad Mark, The Sullivans, Henry being one of Ty's oldest and dearest, Ian, and Bjorn, The Buckinghams and the Dentino's family friends. Caroline and Tyler who have been working on a few duets entertained the group with three numbers, she singing he playing the guitar..including a Rolling Stones song, A Cranberries song and White Stripes piece..this is the first time they have been able to collaborate together as their skills have finally caught up with each other. Pretty cool! and a pretty proud moment for Mom!

A week later Alex came up for a visit from DC..making Caroline the happiest girl on the planet.

Lobsters were the entree on Saturday night..steak and chicken for Caroline and Gretchen who are allergic to the red bugs.

Speaking of RED...the ARC girl does not stop! She gets to Portland tonight on her way to a neices graduation party and there is a three unit apartment fire in Hancock county! Ugh! Spent the night on the phone! The volunteer on call was not reachable tonight for some reason..oh well it was my territory and my fire department guys so we all worked it out over the phone..!

Besides that we have had a National Review of the Floods in Aroostook County, some major upheavals in Portland, been named the State coordinating chapter for Disaster Response until further notice and had another annual meeting!! NOt to mention the midwest is up to its neck in water and the west is on fire...

So, hope you are all having a good start to the summer season..you may hear from me again..before Fall! If nothing else I have to try to stay off Ginnys list!!

ARC girl

THE WALL

2008-06-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

Its done! Tyler's eighth grade project! A full wall size mural designed for the Sedgwick School, approved by the Principal and the School Board and finished the week before graduation!!

Big Sis picked him up everyday after school once she got home from college so he could stay late and work on it!! Then took photos for the final display project for Graduation night. Tyler hopes to continue Art in High school

and pursue some type of arts or graphics program in College some day!! Being the first student to ever get his work permanently on the walls of the Sedgwick School is probably a good start on his career...yeah Ty!

She did it!!

2008-05-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

Thats right...Aisha Anjali Woodward graduated Saturday from Bowdoin College with a liberal arts degree in Government and Legal studies. I can not say how proud I am of my "other girl"!

She was also the receipient of a couple of grants for further study as well as the award for Initiative in Leadership and Public Service. In a month she will travel back to Ghana to do some

community work after studying there last year. In January she plans to travel to Italy to teach English learn more Italian, study Dante and then apply to Grad school.

She took advantage of every opportunity Bowdoin offered her, and gave it back three fold. She helped research and author the second Mitchell Institute Study on secondary education in Maine, she took two groups of students to the Bronx to teach during spring breaks, and she continued to help find ways to make entrance to colleges like Bowdoin something every Maine student has an option to do...

Whatever effort we put in to getting her there, pales in comparison to how she ran with her education once there...she made everyone that helped in that process very very proud.

It was a wonderful day, sun stayed out as long as possible, the speakers were for the most part very good, the traditions of a campus like Bowdoin are always so nice to see, Alumni in their straw hats, the band marching the grads all over the ENTIRE campus before they hit the stage,

statues dressed in caps and gowns!

We all went out to lunch afterwards, Aisha her two brothers, sister Becky and husband Tom, Nancy Buckingham and our family, to Jamesons Tavern. Then we presented the "little wanderer" with a suitcase, from LL Bean, so she doesnt have to drag back packs and duffels throughout Europe!

She is a wonder and a delight and we are so lucky to have her in our lives...I look forward to seeing what she will accomplish in the years ahead..

Ok she is somewhat back on the planet..sorta

2008-05-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

Hello fans...Now let me explain that last blog..I actually wrote this long detailed blog about where exactly ARC girl had been and the darn website lost it so I was just too exasperated and tired to deal so I just left it that way..it actually had a better effect! Besides do you all really care that all I do is work, work and more work...?

Well I do have a little bit of a life if you call going out for a drink at 10 pm in the county after driving thru a hail storm .. and singing broadway tunes from the sirus radio broadway station with Hillary to annoy Pat Adams a life well than there you have it!!

Honestly folks its been nothing but the Bangor office and flooding and FEMA for weeks. With the exception of a quick trip to DC to pick up the diva daughters stuff but not her..she stayed behind for boyfriends graduation and flew home this week... and do you think those people from National ARC left me alone..nope..the staffing person (Beeethhh)
actually called me in the car on the way to Washington..that woman never did get it!! AND I almost had to room with her in the county because there were not enough hotel rooms...I had Pat Adams put a stop to that one!! He of course is now our interim executive director and finding me to be a "tiny bit" high maintenance! I mean really! MOI???

So I have been in the Ellsworth office this week two days...this is a record..I havent been there two days in one week in a month!! Tommorow though I head back to Bangor for Suzans party and then to Portland, as Aisha (my adopted one) graduates from Bowdoin on Saturday morning.

In other news my dearest friend is a new grandfather...as of last Friday. Connor is his name and he is very sweet, I actually had the opportunity to see him as I was in Bangor the day he was born. Grandfather Mark is very proud and quite smitten. As well he should be.

Caroline is home with all her attendant stuff...it will take weeks to put it all away ...and Tyler is slowly finishing up his Elementary school career with his eighth grade project of a mural on the wall of the school..its really quite incredible.

So there you have it...I am alive..and well not necessarily well but getting there!! Looking forward to the long Memorial Day weekend...Hello Super sibs!! xo

ARC Girl

Where oh Where is ARC girl??

2008-05-15T17:22:00.000-07:00

"water water everywhere....

2008-05-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

So..Do you want to know what ARC girl has been up to? Or do you? Heard of those Floods in Northern Maine?? yep! We have been preparing for such an event for well over a month now...the fact that it would be a 100 year event though is not lost on this newbie to disasters that require DR #'s and telephone calls to Washington DC..because we no longer have a service center..closed the day of the flood!!

Last Wednesday the flood waters reached that 100 year event in Fort Kent and as I was driving to work, I was quickly diverted to Bangor..and with the exception of a quick drive home that same day to pick up clothing I moved up there to take over chapter disaster operations and Hillary moved up to the County. It was "hell on wheels" for a couple of days. The phones literally never stopped ringing...and at times I had my cell on one hand and a regular phone on the other. They rang through the night..and when they were not ringing we were on conference calls..the situation changed rapidly, but nothing was as telling as the calls I got...I had the Chapters phones for all flood related calls, so I would get these calls from some small town, and a person saying...I am flooded out, the roads are all closed where do I go what do I do? Some of these towns were miles from open shelters..some I could not find on maps as I talked to these people thru the night..

Thursday, the National Red Cross gave us a disaster relief number and we started to put into place the makings of an operation..unfortunately without the normal advice of a service center the process was thrown into chaos and it was one of the worst days I have ever spent!! Friday National was up and running..bare bones but none the less we had a place to put our complaints and issues...I started to deploy volunteers from the chapter Hillary meanwhile went toe to toe with the EMA directors and relief operations at the EOC!! I think she was the only woman in that building in Fort Kent!!

By Saturday we were exhausted but we knew we were both going to go home and sleep in our own beds!! She left the county and I left Bangor...
NO the phones have not stopped ringing and things are no where near normal...but we made it thru the first 72 hours and then some and even though the hassels and communications and frustrations have been immense..we haven't lost anyone yet..we are delivering the best our chapter can under the circumstances..and we did when it counted the most!! And we will continue to push forward with this relief operation and in the end will be better directors because of it...

In the mean time send chocolate, coffee and wine in care of Hillary and Gretchen
ARC Pine Tree Chapter...

Playing catch up...

2008-04-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

And actually having some time to do so!! Whoo Hoo! After ARC girls week from another place you don't want to go to ...it has been nice to not have the phone ring.

Friday morning Myself and another volunteer drove out to Eastbrook again and met with all the teachers at the school where the young boy attended that died in the fire last weekend. They do not have a guidance counselor on staff, so they are borrowing one from another school. We shared our perspective of the family, the brother and just basic psychological first aid for the students and the staff themselves. Really liked their superintendent, who got them all together for this, and who had done this with other staff before. And that folks was the end of the week, I went back to the office and closed it!!!!! Hillary was going to be at a wedding all weekend but everyone knew my number, I had checked all the weather service flooding reports and everything was status quo except the Canadian Border..and quite frankly...thats not exactly my chapter..so until it becomes bigger than they can handle...I was "going home"

Don went to his Dad's for the night to straighten out Red's finances and go out to camp and check on it...still snow and Ice on the camp road and in the lake!

Tyler had Becky over for dinner so Mark drove her and we had sausages and potato salad and a pre summer BBQ meal for a Friday night! Spring and Summer might actually be on its way!

Now its Sunday, and I have Guiness Brownies in the oven, a couple of sewing projects to do and some free time...what a luxury! Don't think Tyler is looking forward to going back to school but he is definitely on the down hill slide now..Graduation will be in about 6 weeks, with lots of stuff going on, in between including a trip to DC to get Care's stuff. Plus he is in the middle of his mural project, so he has something to keep him very occupied.
So happy Sunday all....

Day off!!!!

2008-04-23T17:30:00.000-07:00

The ARC girl had a day off from ARC!! Fresh off two television appearances, phone interviews and basically the weekend from you know where...she took the day off and NO one was allowed to call her cell!!! AND it worked!! Ok, ok, I really don't need an agent, just mental health!!
Besides I promised Tyler I would be at his "Beck and Call" for the day.

Which meant Beck-y! New "friend". So we headed out and picked her up...(the daughter of a dear friend by the way!) and off to Bangor, for some shopping, lunch and a movie. First stop of course though the ARC office to meet Pat and Hillary. Tyler got the full scoop on how the "wanted" poster of his mother came to be, and Hillary and Lynn were overwhelmed by his height! (not that they wouldn't be, sorry girls you are short!). Then off to AC Moore to buy paint for his 8th grade project which is a large mural on one wall at the school. It is the first time a student has ever been given permission to do something like this. He had to take his design before the school board and principal for approval.
After that we had lunch at Chili's, where those two continued to chatter away, which they had been doing since I picked her up in Ellsworth.

Movie for the afternoon was Forgetting Sarah Marshall...funny, cute, and boy do they show alot in an R rated movie now...or am I just a 'conservative mother!!' Yikes! Ok, I know its not PG 13!
Then back to Becky and Marks house for some chili..(and some wine!)

All in All a great day, spent with two kids who just laughed and giggled the whole day, and I didnt have to think, cook, or answer the phone! Of course I did tell everyone if they did have messages for me not to call but just send it in an email...(19) when I got home...still worth the peace and quiet of a true mental health day!! (other than of course that consistent hum coming from those two kids who never ever stopped talking to each other!)

Back to work tommorow ...ARC girl

TM 4/19/08

2008-04-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

Do All the Good you Can
By All the Means you Can
In All the Ways you Can
In All the Places you Can
At All the Times you Can
To All the People you Can
As Long as Ever you Can

-John Wesley 1791

All I can say.... after Saturday April 19th, and responding to a fire that resulted in the death of a
12 year old boy, his father the fire chief air lifted to Portland, and a large extended family dealing with their losses, and the complicated scene before them.

This work is hard at times, but I can honestly say that was truly the most complicated and difficult scene I will probably see in a long while. Jean Dickson was my right arm, and did an exceptional job for her first case...the fire departments really leaned on us to take care of certain aspects of the day...and we all functioned exceptionally within the chaos. Everything I have ever learned or read probably came into play. There is much more to do on this case, but for now ..

Enough is Enough...

ARC girl

Calls, Concerts and Conferences..

2008-04-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

Ok, there has to be an end to this constant roller coaster ride...called work...yesterday there were two conference calls one was 2 hours long! and I ended up driving to Bangor between them, to help out with an AFES case, ended up getting a fire call and I honestly don't remember what else..and then on the way home I get a call that the fire client lost...LOST the debit card! So I start to head back to the Ellsworth office to activate another one...just as I get to town, they call from Presque Isle to say he found it!! Good thing..I was heading home to pick up Tyler for a concert back in Ellsworth.

Jefferson Starship, which should have just renamed themselves (again!) Jefferson Airplane, because that's the music they did...and quite well...played at the little old Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth Maine. A friend and I took our two teenagers who seemed to just love it. There was a female singer who apparently had the role of Janis Joplin off Broadway and she did Grace Slick like nobody's business. She was worth the concert alone...one of the original members..looking like an old hippie straight out of Haight Ashbury had the audience roaring over his Catholic and Pope jokes...all in all an entertaining evening.

Speaking of which...the diva daughter calls during Conference call #3 this morning and says she is behind a barricade waiting for "his emminence" to drive by in the Pope mobile! An hour or so later I get a picture on my cell phone of the Pope in his little car driving by! So funny, we were in DC the day he was elected, on the campus of Catholic University..that was a trip..all of a sudden it was innundated with Press etc...almost three years ago exactly!

So tommorow I get a quick trip out of town for a conference on Friday on the clinical aspects of emergency preparedness, like how to treat patients with chemical, WMD or biological exposures!
Great breakfast topics!! Get home on Friday afternoon sometime and We head back down to Portland for the weekend on Saturday! Oh well I am not driving....
Thats it from the Ellsworth office today...ARC girl

My Kingdom for a girl....

2008-04-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Don't get me wrong, I love all the boys who clutter up my house...but eventually all that testosterone, plus the husband with the basketball, baseball, golf whatever on TV...it all becomes a little loud, a little dirty and a little old. I begin to crave anything Pink or quiche or chick flicks and I start to count the days until Caroline lands evening out the gender gap in this household.

Tyler and friends are just about the funniest crew going, but they are tall, (most around 6 feet), loud, and messy! And boy do they eat! I left for the grocery store today, after picking up Ian, skate board and a some kinda long skate rail, and was told to get subrolls for sandwiches...Don said we had roast beef for lunch. So I arrive home..counter is cluttered with dishes, cheese, mayo covered knives and a cutting board. Well fine I can eat my sandwich in peace...after cleaning up their mess and putting the grocerys away, I take out one of the rolls I was instucted to buy and go to look for the roast beef....GONE!! I have rolls for a sandwich and nothing to put on them! Jeez!

A while later they reappear with vanilla cokes in their hands..."where did you get those?" Tyler said that he and his dad bought a case of them...(yuck...why not regular?) Tyler says they remind him of the store (my old business!) Ian says "they remind of the first video game he played"..he says this mumbling and I whirl around because I think I have heard something else and say "WHAT did you just say?" He looks at me quizically and repeats what he said. What did you think I said he asks me, by that time I had to tell them..I said I thought you said...

"It reminds me of the first time I got laid" The boys are hysterically laughing at this point because once again they have gotten me bad..and didnt even try!!

They are currently upstairs banging on guitars and making the kitchen ceiling shake....ugh!

So Friday was Ginny's retirement party...a fun time was had by all...Paul Clark and Dave Francoer came up from Portland, Pat Adams stopped running all over New England to come back to the chapter, several volunteers, our staff and John from the board..it was great. Paul and Lynn snapped a ton of pictures including one of Hill and I sneaking up and leaning on Ginnys shoulders! Should be cute! God knows she has been "our Mom" and we will miss her! Paul had Hillary feeling guilty all afternoon with his knee brace, and reminding her that if he had not knelt down in Augusta for her...it wouldn't have happened! She kept asking him if he wanted her seat!
And one month from now a Party for Suzan who leaves us at the end of the month to go to work for the Humane society! She has been a great Exec. but she is ready to move on..so things are definitely changing in ARC girls little world.

This week is Pat Simmons (last!) Hurricane conference call...2 1/2 hours two days in a row..yippee and Pat Adams is having an afternoon "call in show" for us to ask questions about whats happening next in ARC land..so if I cant comprehend anything by Tuesday afternoon its because I have been on the phone..LITERALLY all day!
Tyler and I are going to see *Jefferson Starship* at the Grand that night with a friend and his daughter so that will break up the misery!!
Thursday I head to Portland for an early morning conference Friday on clinical treatment of Bio terrorism, WMD's etc...nice breakfast talk!

So that's it from my post here on Sunday afternoon on the Banks of the Benjamin....the Masters Golf tournament is on TV, the boys are banging on guitars and there are dirty skateboards and sneakers in the mud room....where is Lily Pulitzer when you need her? I need PINK!!
ARC girl

Could it be....

2008-04-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

Spring? Two days in a row...sunny, warm...pleasant....its almost too good to be true. Its Maine though and we all know Mother Nature will throw us a curve ball and that awful stuff they call
"poor mans fertilizer" or something like that..in other words the late spring snow storm will eventually happen.

In anycase the sun has made what could be a really rough week exceptionally pleasant for "moi".
Monday morning started with an email, that I was not expecting, in the form of a very late apology from a young man who should have never behaved the way he did in the first place...so 4 months later...I guess he can wait for me to respond to that email...cause I havent quite decided what to write yet....

Then there was ....yep...a fire...Saturday actually but in typical Hancock county fashion...oops. We didn't call the Red Cross...so I get the fire Chief on the phone, and then plan to head out to Sullivan...BUT not before going to my office to check on ......YOU GUESSED IT....the FURNACE!!! Yes, ARC girl stopped into the office on Sunday to take care of shelter drill messes and such, and no heat....so she goes down to the dreaded basement and finds out the oil tank is empty....OH JOY! Calls the building manager...the ever helpful Nancy...and leaves message...
Calls Hancock Oil on Monday morning who says...no cash no oil....The owner of this mall is about 800 years old and on his way out and living in New Jersey!! So I call Suzan, the Exec Director and she is not in a good mood and asks me what do I want her to do...well I say, I have called everyone...but my hands are tied otherwise and I do not have the check book! She then ordered some oil....and then a little later in the morning..She called a meeting and resigned her position as Exec Director!!! Yeow! (not because of the oil mind you!)

So Monday, is going well...fire client just barely got out of her house, lost several pets and all her and her husbands belongings...I saw the house...the fire was devastating. As all fires are, this burned very hot and hard from the looks of it. We are up to 127 fires now...a real record year and a huge strain on the disaster budget, director has resigned effective end of the month, Flooding is still imminent in the county and elsewhere, and the furnace...but its sunny.

Its Tuesday and Sunny again. and warm..Red Sox are back at Fenway, Tyler is out on his skate board every afternoon ....meetings today, new volunteer from CA who will be an excellent addition to our chapter with an ever decreasing staff of directors!! Someone asked me if I was going to leave today and I said "heck no...I am going to stay to watch this whole thing shake out, I certainly do not want any of their jobs, but it will be an interesting next few months...no service center, new emergency services dept...new executive director or acting director...BIA drill and of course that omnipresent threat of floods from 18 feet of snow in the county!!

So off to Bangor tommorow...get the car in for service and meetings at the office...maybe it will be Sunny again!!!

ARC girl has Spring fever!

No rest for the weary...or is it the wicked?

2008-04-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

So here they are in all their Glory...the Princesses of PTC....the disaster dynamic duo....ARC girl and the Gigabyte queen herself..Miss Hillary. We survived about 50 boyscouts, 20 something college students from New Brunswick, 12 or so PTC and two Portland Chapter volunteers, EMA directors from Hancock and Penobscot county, a slew of fire and police men, parents, scout leaders and a somewhat surly janitor! Oh and the Press and Sib #3 Kim in the Gym who happens to live in Brewer and of course had to see what was going on in the Gym!!

After a long day at the office and a BIA drill meeting at EMMC we headed to the auditorium and set up, with in a half an hour the first casualty walks into my health office holding his hand and dripping blood into the sink....John Buckwalter! He was trying to open a cot that snapped on his finger tip...it was a nice little mess! Who would have thought I would do Staff health before the clients!! Luckily as far as nursing goes he was the worst of it...the rest were basically "bandaids for boyscouts"..kid you not!

The kids arrived just after the "power failure" and we went on the generator. Supper was spagetti and salad.. and then it was a kids everywhere...although some were working on merit badges. Noise level did get a little high on decibels in the gym...Lots of papers, TV and radio came around to talk to us...The EDGE, an alternative paper had their editor sleeping over with his son and a reporter there..they brought copies of their April fools edition which we were all sitting around reading about 9:30 (waiting on those late college kids) I got to the Horoscope page, read mine and thought wow, that was a good one, so I read a significant others and .....

IT WAS THE SAME HOROSCOPE!!!!!! They were all the same!! April Fools! Cell phone rang and Sib #3 had to come over and join the fun for a few minutes...she and Brenda Moody quickly hit it off and sat there making jokes back and forth! Kim said "really you guys nothing this exciting ever happens in Brewer!!" We had hit the big time...of course we couldn't convince her to stay...as the college kids started to arrive..one van at a time....

By 11 pm Hillary and I told the volunteers they were all set to be on their own and we headed to her apartment for a few hours sleep, but not without a glass of wine first! That of course was only about 4 hours and then we were back over there by 5:30 to help with breakfast checkout clean up and so forth.
All in all it was a great drill, we learned what we need and what we can do better and what we do well and that we really can open a shelter if need be...like when the St John floods in the next month or so!

ARC girl is quite exhausted, and she has a big dinner date tonight she cant really get out of as its been on the calendar for two months!!! Oh well...I guess I better get off this couch and find something decent to wear and some makeup for those dark circles under my eyes!!!

Keeps the flood waters at bay please....and dont start any fires....I am tired!!!

Bandaids for Boy Scouts

2008-04-02T17:06:00.000-07:00

Oh I am soooo looking forward to Friday night when ARC girl and the Gigabyte queen, alias potato blossom, alias the New Emergency Services director of the Pine tree chapter..Miss Hillary and myself get to host 75 to 100 boy scouts at a shelter at the "posh" Brewer Auditorium. Oh and get this ...about 20 extra homeless college students from Canada who are supposed to be staying at UMO, and apparently there is no room there will also be "bunking with us"!

Big Daddy Paul, blew out his knee so he will not be coming up from Portland to take care of the kids..(Hillary and Gretchen), which means we have no one to whine to!! He does entertain Potato Blossom and Sunshine!...darn.

Patrick seems to think he's going to grab sib#3 who lives in Brewer and hit a few pubs and then finish up with a bar in the Parking lot...right! My friend Mark said he'd actually bartend inside...oh and that goes sooooo
well with ARC and Boy Scout law! He seems to think Hillary and I will need it....medicinally of course! Uh Huh. Guess I better check with the Chapter health Nurse about that!

Speaking of the Chapter Health Nurse...alias ARC girl..she spent the day making sure there were enough bandaids for the boys...as well as cough syrup, tylenol, ace bandages and... antidiarreah medicine in case we have those kind of issues! Packing up the chapter disaster health kit, and taking inventory. Of course she almost ended up a casualty herself when she unlocked the little ERV door and a 55mph wind gust blew one of the doors back at her head...she moved just in time!!

Tommorow after a trip to Seal Harbor for a meeting I will pack up the health kit and protocols and hope for the best and you all better be thinking about us...this is not a choice way to spend your Friday night you know!!!

ARC girl....whining already..and its only Wednesday night.....

I wouldnt be ARC girl without her....

2008-03-31T16:51:00.000-07:00

Ginny that is....first of all she hired me! I really had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I knew I wanted to work for a nonprofit..afterall I was working on a Masters Certificate in Non profit management..and well I had done the "own your own business thing" and the work for someone else and everyone else as a Nurse thing so this seemed like the next step..

I had no idea what the job was, afterall it was a tiny ad in the BDN, and it was for a part time job in Ellsworth...worked for me! Well Ginny and Suzan convinced me this is where I *needed* to be! I wanted that job after the interview...it seemed exciting, challenging and different than anything else I had ever done....and guess what ...IT IS!!!

Ginny was a great boss, friend, mentor and teacher! The respect she garnered from her volunteers, staff, and emergency services people across the state just amazed me! Everyone knew her..!

So somewhere along the line, Ginny starts a blog...and of course she lets us in on the site so we can read it...and of course comment if we want...well in order to comment you have to have a webname. Which means you can actually blog yourself...for awhile I used to just comment on her blog, but then one day that Ellsworth office got pretty boring and I was probably just in the right mood and "ARC Girl" just hasn't gotten off her soap box since.
Lynn came on and Hillary came on....(for awhile)...

Of course I then had to get the sibs on line...and the super sibs...(the upper echelon of the Wilson family) have a place to chat, and read whats going on in each others jobs...so Ginny...really put ARC girl on the map...even when it meant fending off "blog invasions" like Patrick and friends when the Velcro incident occured...

Ginny, you have made my life fun, at times way too exciting, with my job...and given me alot to
remember and laugh about...and if you can't find me anywhere else....I bet you will still find me here!!!

with Love,
ARC Girl

For Ginny...I did the questionaire

2008-03-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

45 ODD THINGS
45 ODD THINGS (FROM AUNT SUSIE)1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? YES love it.

2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No. 3. Do you own a gun? No 4. What's your favorite drink at Starbucks or other specialty coffee shop? Latte, no flavor just regular

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? No. 6. What do you think of hot dogs? good grilled or in a ball park with relish

7. Favorite Christmas song?Oh come all ye Faithful 8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Coffee with cream 9. Can you do push ups? Don't like to!10. What 's your favorite piece of jewelry? My grandmothers pearl necklace 11. Favorite hobby? sewing 12. Do you have A.D.D.? No, but I could be getting it...13. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? Interupting people 14. Middle name? Anne

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. I have to stop making this survey skip so many spaces, I need to check on the laundry, and I want to listen to my new cd.

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Coffee. white wine and water. 17 Current worry right now? Tyler and getting him thru the end of eight grade. 18. Current hate right now? endless snow 19. Favorite place to be? someplace warm 20. How did you bring in the New Year? not sure didnt do anything special 21. Do you like to travel? Yes,.22. Name three people who will complete this? no idea 23. Do you own slippers? Yes24. What color shirt are you wearing? lavender 25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? no 26. Can you whistle? Very little .27. Favorite color? Blue. 28. Would you be a pirate? wouldnt want to be mean 29. What songs do you sing in the shower? I hum 30. Favorite girl's names? Caroline, Grace 31. Favorite boy's name? Andrew, Peter 32. Whats in your pocket right now? nothing 33. Last thing that made you laugh? a friend who told a very bad joke, and just couldnt stop laughing 34. Best bed sheets as a child? Don't remember 35. Worst injury you've ever had? hit in the vertebrae by a chairlift 36. Do you love where you live? Love it, I dont my view for granted.37. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2 38. Who is your loudest friend? Amy 39. How many pets do you have? 1 cat 40. Does someone have a crush on you? yes 41. What is your favorite book? The snow goose by Paul Gallico 42. What is your favorite candy? really good chocolate preferably european 43. Favorite Sports team? The RedSox What were you doing 12 AM last night? Talking with a friend 45. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? "I'ts nice to be here"

And the weather is......

2008-03-28T11:09:00.000-07:00

SNOW.....again....what is this?? I woke up and the ground was covered with a blanket of heavy wet stuff. YUCK! I mean really! Another wonderful drive in over unplowed Sedgwick roads which now have frost heaves on their frost heaves. I didnt even bother to take the shovel to the ramp...it will melt by tommorow anyways.

Tonight Hillary and I are going to Penobscot Theater Company's production of Little Shop of Horrors! I have not seen the play since Caroline had the lead as Audrey. Everyone seems to think I will have a hard time with that...not so...and the reviews for this particular production have been very good. Hill's best bud Dominick has several parts as well as Orin the dentist, so that will be fun. We plan to meet up at Paddy Murphys for wine and dinner and I am spending the night in town. Its been a crazy busy two weeks, with meetings and stuff so I am looking forward to it.

Hope everyone has a nice weekend....regardless of the winter weather that just will not end!

Heat.....not in my job description!

2008-03-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

So I am not sure this week has been any better than last! Busy and of course the typical issues for ARC girl...she goes into the lovely ARC office on Monday and finds by the door a pile of trash from the weekend class..she immediately walks it outside to the dumpster....which is GONE!
Yup GONE! OK, so she goes inside the inner office and immediately she knows....its that crisp chill and extreme silence of the furnace and fans...NO HEAT! OK...no heat no dumpster! She calls the building manager, a flighty type who says "oh you can use my dumpster"...up at the next building! And she will call about the heat...well then before I can take my coat off...and quite frankly who wants to take their coat off the phone rings....

Yep, someone calling from a Hospital in Lincoln about a guy (patient) who escaped his burning home last night and needs ARC assistance. So a half hour later, and trying to work this scenario long distance, I get him somewhat squared away and call the building manager back...no answer.
So I call the oil/heating co. did she call and report our furnace trouble? Why yes she did but you need to call her....hmmmm, I tried I tell them..when are you coming....You need to talk to her they say...TRANSLATION: we are not coming!!

ARC girl is very unhappy by now and just a little cold...its 20 degrees at the end of March! Its 19 degrees in my office...so she forwards the phones and takes the trash into her car and drives up to the next building to put trash in "her dumpster" and find the woman!!! No luck, and my rear hatch all of a sudden wouldnt open and I got covered with salt and sand and had to go into the back of the van and drag the trash out thru the side doors. OK we are really unhappy now..so we go looking for "Nancy" building manager..no where....so just to make myself feel better we drive the van thru the car wash...at least my coat wont look bad! Then back to the ARtiC office.

Turned on all the little electric heaters I bought when we had the last little incident and tried to work....luckily a friend took me out to lunch to warm up! Nancy finnally calls back and says "was I supposed to call you?" HELLO! I say...well Hancock Oil said I needed to speak with you ..whats going on? Oh well the owner hadn't paid the last repair bill and until they got some money...no furnace repair! So I tell her, I will be in the Bangor office (thank god!) the next two days, but hopefully it will be fixed by then......

Tuesday morning...18 degrees, I call her on my way to Bangor...Nancy maybe you ought to go check the pipes in the office..."oh you think so?" Hmmmm! Tuesday afternoon, I have to go to office to pick up and drop off stuff to go back to Bangor on Wednesday...no heat.

Wednesday morning..snowing! I don't bother to call, I really don't want to know, besides I have to go to the office in the late afternoon before going to EHS for a concert. Yep you guessed it...no heat..its really cold in there by now. But I notice someone has at least been by to check the pipes. I call Nancy and leave her a message that I will be in by 9:30 am and I expect a phone call and there is still no heat!

Thursday morning...25 degrees its really warming up! (yeah right) I drive in, and think, this is just going to be an awful day..no heat and negotiating with this woman..so I decide I need a latte.
Then I decide maybe I need a hot breakfast sandwich too! So I arrive at the office drag my stuff and self up the ramp and open the main door...front hall way is warm from the sun, I am thinking maybe I can move a desk out here...I put the key in the inner door and then I hear it...the loud and obnoxious sound of heat!! HEAT, I open the door and it blasts me in the face.
My day is made.. nothing can ruin it now ....I have HEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So for all you non ARC people who have your cushy offices and take your heat and hot water for granted (and electricity for that m atter) just remember us non profits who "suffer for the sake of saving humanity" from famine flood and fire!! I really do need that cape!

And tommorows Friday....ARC girls favorite day!

A Month in a Week, A week in a day....

2008-03-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

It was not a quiet week( was it really just one week?) for ARC girl. I seem to remember it getting busy last year in the Spring but this is ridiculous. Monday, a national holiday according to my son..St Patricks day, I sat in front of a computer for 6 hours putting shelter info from a National web site to a spread sheet made up by some "brilliant service area employee" who by the way got a pink slip last week. This redundancy report has taken me about a week all told, between downloading the info that I have gathered to put into the National data base, and then put it into this spread sheet that will ..get this be for "our use" when the data is looked at, and then sent back to us.

So after finally finishing that task, I took the one day I had left in my office this week to clean up, (Wednesday) unfortunately after lunch...all you know what broke loose. First there was Armed Forces Emergency Services Call, for a service member whose mother was undergoing immediate surgery,..they could not find him, the situation deterioriated as the afternoon went on, and after all the back and forth phone calls, the service member was actually not in the States as thought but on a plane to Kuwait, and the mother unfortunately passed away. It was one of the rougher calls I have had. Then I check my email and they are predicting that the storm coming in on Thursday is going to "blast" Aroostook County! As well as cause icing else where, so I email my EMA director,that I will be in Augusta at the Emergency Management Agency, but he can get me by phone..
Then I have my coat on..to leave and phone rings..Fire in Otis..Family with kids, no one home but could I come..? As I am talking to dispatch , I look up and my EMA director Ralph walks in the door to discuss tommorows weather...jeez!

I say Ralph, this has not been an easy day and its not getting any better, and you need to listen to my day before I hear what you want..so I fill him in and he says...I had no idea about the seriousness of this storm, I was in Augusta and got a text on the way home.. I said hey,,.you have my cell but I have to go to Augusta tommorow..He was headed for Kona's for a drink and I said "its better than Otis to a fire..and off we went.

Made it to Otis, house was completely gone, but looked like it had been a beautiful home. Large field stone fire place and cathedral ceiling at the front. Unfortunately no one had gotten in touch with the owners so I say and waited until she came home, not knowing she had no home to come to. To say the least it was one of the tougher cases I have done.

I drove back to the office around 7:30 pm and did some paperwork and finally headed home around 8:30. I am pretty sure I did a months worth of work, at least emotionally in one afternoon. One of the rougher days I have had with ARC.

Thursday and Friday was spent with all the Emergency Service people around the state working on our disaster plans at MEMA. It was a good two days, tiring, but none the less worth doing and always good to connect with everyone else that if the you know what ever hits the fan we will be in the trenches with!!

Today Friday, the EOC was getting messages all day from Aroostook county where roads were closed due to white out blizzard conditions and roofs collapsed including at a dairy farm where several cattle were trapped underneath..not a pretty picture from our northern most part of the chapter..Today being the first full day of spring mind you!

Well its the weekend..started with ST Paddys day and ends with Easter...today being Good Friday,,,I am not sure but is 4th of July next week? Someone let ARC girl know...she is confused and tired!!

Happy St.Patricks Day

2008-03-17T17:32:00.000-07:00

Happpy St. Paddys day from Me and Van the Man! The concert was just grand, Tyler and I had a wonderful time in Boston and the songwriter from Northern Ireland was the consumate entertainer.

As sib #2 had said, he does not do alot of talking to the audience except to tell us what he is playing but, he does get the audience off their feet with his blues/jazz revival style that has everyone clapping along with some of his pieces. He arrived on stage in a suit, sun glasses and fedora..all of which he kept on the entire time. He sang for an hour and 45 minutes not bad for a 62 year old guy and when he wasn't singing he was playing his sax. A good portion of the concert was the new CD Keep it Simple sandwiched with old favorites such as Moondance and Brightside of the Road, as well as lesser known Vanlose Stairway, and of course Gloria for the audience encore.

We had wonderful seats in the orchestra at the Wang Center, and I would not have traded it for anything...Boston Globe gave it a so so review but the audience comments on the web..said it was one of his better live performances in years! I'll take it after a 30 year wait!!

In other Holiday News..the Diva Daughter calls from the New York City St Patricks Day Parade...that child takes after her mother...right place at the right time..even sent me two pics on my cell and held it up to the pipe band going by...thanks Care..enjoyed it while I worked on an excel spread sheet all day! Brother Ty wore his Drop Kick Murphys t-shirt to school today and then off to Henry Sullivans to record more video for You Tube..you don't want to see it believe me!

Corned beef, guiness and an Irish coffee for dessert...can't ask for more my friends..

Happy St. Patricks day all......ARC girl

The Princess of Pranks

2008-03-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

Soooo, apparently "someone" had a little tiny problem with their computer in the ARC office on Friday! Seems his computer had been just "slightly" altered to write a few phrases when certain common words were typed...you know words like "The", "You", and "I", for example when the word "I" was typed it said.."I am in awe of ARC girl Gretchen!" Hmmmm!
Quite clever I would say!.....especially when all were in doubt of ARC girls capabilities to really get some sweet revenge for the "velcroed office".

I of course was on my way to Boston, when my cell rang and Pat said he was having some trouble working! I did enjoy all the inter office emails as well as the ones from Super Sib #3.

I suppose I will pay dearly for this "little" prank of mine...but to all of you who had doubts the ARC girl, prevailed...for the day anyways!

"The..Princess of Pranks"

...And the Caravan is on its way...

2008-03-13T14:50:00.001-07:00

Tommorow we head out to Bean town. Early so we can beat the traffic in and out, and have some time to do whatever. Van concert is at 7:30, have been told to try PF Changs for dinner which will no doubt please Tyler.

So I knew my site was popular..but when you can google Van Morrison and get the ARC girl..see comments on last entry..things have truly gone to another level or have truly gotten out of hand.
Innocent enough I guess, afterall as Caroline would say..MOM she just wanted to know what to wear!! And we all know the O'Grady women have a passion for clothes. So good luck to Alison whomever she may be.

Off to a jazz concert at the high school...and then home to pack..

..."turn up your radio, and let me hear the song..." vm ARC girl who is beyond excited!!

TWO DAYS to GO!!

2008-03-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

THIS BROWNEYED GIRL WILL BE IN BOSTON FRIDAY NIGHT IN THE ORCHESTRA AT THE WANG TO FINALLY SEE ......VAN MORRISON!

HER DATE FOR THE EVENING..TYLER!

Its been almost thirty years and counting the days...to see my most favorite performer for the first time!

ARC girl...on her wavelength...

Just how did this happen?

2008-03-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

How did I get so busy? And exactly where does my day go? Yeah I can hear the answers now from some of my loyal readers....
Today..I was in the office by ten, answered a dozen phone calls and emails and then decided the NSS ..National Shelter Survey web site which does not like me presently, after trying to run some reports yesterday, so I ignore that report due next week and start to put together a presentation for some girl scout troop that I have to do at 2:30 in Brooksville. Just as I get the place torn apart with bandages, slings and stuff everywhere and am making my notes a fire client walks in, who was supposed to show up yesterday...He actually asked if we were just moving in..I guess I really made a mess today!
All of a sudden its 1pm..and I have one hour to load the car not only for the girl scouts but for a trip to the Bangor office tommorow which includes 4 boxes of stuffed animals ..don't ask! I remember when I wondered what my next project was going to be..now I wonder how I am going to finish what I started...good thing I like this job!

The drive to Brooksville was a treat...more of the Blue hill Frost heaves with tons and tons of road sand thrown in for good measure! But the girl scouts were adorable and so involved in the whole first aid thing..love it!

Finnally there is the ever persistent problem of the ARC girl having to deal with the obvious exaggerations and rude comments by others to her website. You know those people who have to make a DQ sundae out of a simple banana!!! I mean really!
And note to Sib #3, do you really think that I am quite done with my plans for retaliation?
Honestly...get your mind out of the gutter and give the princess of emergency planning a little more credit!

Work weekend

2008-03-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

Back from a long weekend in Rockland Maine! The PineTree Chapter hosted a leadership institute for volunteers, with advanced classes that are not always available in our chapter or even in the State. We brought in instructors from other chapters and taught National courses, it was a complete sucess and as always there was fun to be had.
Hillary should get five gold stars for our accomodations. Since the "Bates Motel" episode in Aroostook County we have really upgraded. She booked all the instructors into a new Hampton Inn in Thomaston.. well I have never been to a Hampton Inn with Granite counters and sinks, tile showers, a bath room as big as my two (ok, well almost!) a king bed with duvet, and a really nice room! The place was brand new and obviously one of their "new concept" models or something! I remember going into a Hampton Inn somewhere and it was very very basic. There was a nice room for breakfast and the place was spacious and airy. Couldnt really ask for more.
Friday I drove down with plans to get to the office by 11, made a quick stop at the Market Basket and out walks Maureen Predham! Well that was 30 minutes! We had not seen each other in quite awhile. Bubs birthday was that day and she was picking up the cake so I wrote a note on the box to him...six years tommorow they lost Hillary.
Got to the Rockland Office and "happened" to be the one to answer the phone..AFES call! It ended up being an all day all evening event...everytime I turned around, they were calling me back wanting more info..by the time I got to the institute they called to say "they could not find the service member..no such person or something to that effect!" Great. Several phone calls later it was resolved. Taught a class Friday night and then a large group of us went to Applebees which was next door to our hotel for liquid re..juvenation! Hillary and I stayed up late
talking, and "being girls"..bed at 1am!
SAturday I got to TAKE a class...taught by the Irish Man himself, Patrick.. who taught us all about Diversity! I did manage to find a small square of velcro and velcroed his banana to the front desk... "teachers pet" that's ARC girl!~ It was actually a good class with alot of great funny moments and discussions.
Saturday night Paul our MEMA liasion came to dinner and said his wife called and wanted to know "how are the kids?" meaning me and Hillary..After dinner she convinced me to go to the pool with her after we had hunted down a bottle of wine of course!..I never ever go to pools in the winter.. but I did. A quick couple of laps and then the hot tub, then up to bed thank you!
Sunday I was just plain tired...Daylight savings time..too much on a weekend like that.
Long drive home at 4:30...
Patrick picked up a Drop Kick Murphys T for me for Tyler that he was thrilled with! Suppose he will have to wear that to Boston this weekend sometime!
So I am off for the rest of the day..quiet in the office..good thing!

"Dodged the bullet" as Ralph put it!

2008-03-05T14:22:00.000-08:00

I am actually sitting at home typing this...if you said this morning during that potential Ice Storm this is where I would be I would have laughed in your face...Thank heavens it went it's jolly way..but things did not look promising this morning for ARC girl in Hancock county!

It all started yesterday when as I said MEMA held its 107th conference call of the year..and my EMA director said nothing then showed up at my office to say that his office would NOT be manned today and he gave me his cell and email and that he would direct everything from Portland..yep that was confidence inspiring. So this morning its 29 degrees, sleeting and there is a 2 hour delay for all the schools..what does that tell you what the roads are like? Then I hear on my favorite morning show that power lines are down on the Deer Isle Causeway..so I check my Bangor Hydro sites and sure enough 1100 people without power...before I even get to the office!

So I go out to start the car..by the way ENCASED in ice!! So I let that run for awhile and pack up..as I figure I am not coming home for the night..just easier to stay in town under the road and power condititons especially if Ralphie is going to be Outta town! The drive in is pure hell! I have driven thru alot this winter but ususally I hit a good road after awhile no such luck today..30 something miles of ice and slush and snow and ice pellets hitting the window..took me one hour!!

I get in the office and some "crazed" health and safety instructor decided to take her anger out on the H and S dept by throwing a lot of cpr stuff all over the floor! Nice! Professional too!
Now if she thought about it..she would know that it would have been "me" that had to pick it up and not anyone that she really wanted to offend! Hence making my morning all the more pleasant.

The weather got worse and worse with driving icy rain, power outages etc and I figured I was a resident of Ellsworth..but then it all let up..Just as Ralph called to check on everything..power had been restored at that point to everywhere except Washington county and I was just not going to worry about them today(even though I usually give them a call) and things seemed to calm down nicely! Ralph happy and calm=ARC girl happy and calm!

So I came home and hung up my cape...until tommorow anyways...

Back to ARC girls site.....

2008-03-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

So I have left this post alone for a couple of days hoping all these people having a conversation on my site would quiet down for the time being...and they have. Good, I have work to do.

Another storm coming in tommorow and of course the State EMA decided to have a conference call..#107 of the winter.. they are rather monotonous by now and quite frankly, we have had no real issues except some minor flooding Valentines day storm. So I took it in stride until they called role and my local EMA director said he had no questions nor did he have any comments...very rare for him! So about an hour later he shows up on my door step to say I need to let you know the EMA office will be unmanned tommorow and I am counting on you and a few others as I will be directing any issues from Portland! ooookaaay! Now nothing usually happens around here. But..leaving ARC girl in charge? I said really Ralph.."you're leaving me alone up here?" Yep, you can do it! He said I've called the Hydro and I have all your numbers, and I will stay in close contact with you...yuuuh! So everyone..pray for rain, no ice, no wind! Thank you!

In other life changing events tonight is the Basketball awards night...Tylers last one at Sedgwick, but even more so.. His Dad's last one as Basketball Coach. I think Don is going to miss that job very very much. He loves those boys, and coaching has really been a great thing for him..I think if something similar comes along he will take it up again. He is an excellent role model and a great coach for young kids as he doesnt have that "win under all costs" attitude..yet he does try to get them to do their best..I have seem him really grow in this position over the past four years.
I am afraid it will be rather bittersweet..I hope he can replace it with something as special.

Off to Rockland and the ARC institute at the end of the week..more on that later I am sure.

ARC girl

Traffic control

2008-03-01T09:44:00.000-08:00

My goodness, did someone put out an ABP on the ARC girls website...there is more "traffic" on this site than Curt Schillings after the series...5 comments and they are all to "each other" on the "en garde" post! You people all need to get a chat room! Then they continue with the "confused Kym and the "charming" cough, cough,.. Patrick dancing on the comments page of my last entry.

So lets see if I can straighten it all out...

1.Ginny takes no responsibility for letting anyone know where ARC girl resides..

- That would be true..unless you are a member of her site..and we all know that the current "interlopers" are not..Ginny is responsible for the ARC sisters being on line..the digital land of estrogen that someone so kindly nicknamed it...
Perhaps you would like to tangle with Ms. Barboza ....she knows how to show a guy the door!

And yes 'Kym in the Gym' she knows how the "Super Sibs" came to be a branch of the ARC girls site. In other words Ginny speaks the truth! Unlike some who claim to get their info thru the breezes of the "pine tree's..... chapter"...because of their wit and charm....

2. Patrick claims to have inner knowledge from the ARC camp....the "gigabyte queen" informs me she in no way is involved in Velcro wars.. Sisters are sisters after all...that bond is stronger than any VELCRO!

3. Patrick and the Knight want to meet for a pint...

- 'shudder'..you know the old Irish saying "the truth comes out when the spirit goes in"

that could be a potential nightmare for the Princess/ARC girl, best to keep them in their seperate kingdoms. They are both too clever for their own good! and perhaps way too much in common...

4. Kym in the Gym wants to know if the Irishman is taken...
Me's thinking,
-the answer there would be "Kate the great"! Anyone who puts up with the antics of Paddy Walsh deserves a royal title.......so don't fall for his smooth lines that's the whiskey talking...
(I know all about what kind of trouble Sir Jameson can get you in to!) Stay away from the
on line "nudges" as he calls them too! Hmmmm, eerie.
He's clever..but he velcroed your sister!

Now does that take care of all of you...? After all this is MY website or did you all lose site of that? If not I may have to change my name and go somewhere else! You'd all probably find me though!

So guess what its snowing..storm #327 or is it 328? Can't recall. Wish I had saved some of that left over velcro from my desk top this week, might need to throw it on the roads since the State now claims to have run out of salt..of course Sedgwick never had any in the first place! Doesn't look like this is going to stop anytime soon either. JOY! March first, looks like it could be a white ST Patricks day too!

Speaking of which the ARC girl and that celtic rock loving son of hers just got their Van Morrison tickets in the mail for the concert in Boston St Paddys day weekend. Actually Friday night the 14th. The Wang Center! This girl can not wait..its been an almost 30 year wait to see him in concert. I started to enjoy Van Morrison's music in college and have never had the opportunity to see him live. Tyler always said he would be my date...so we will be off for Bean town on the 14th. Ty says he hopes he doesn't have to wait 30 years to see Drop Kick Murphys live!

Well other than you all enlivening my blog the only excitement for the day besides watching the snow fall from the window seat is the laundry that keeps calling my name....yes I hear it now..

or is that one of Patricks leaves of Barley whispering to me?

The snowed in ARC girl/aka Princess

Stand down..ye warriors

2008-02-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

Good heavens how did there get to be so much testerone in the room? The ARC girl, aka the Princess of Sedgwick requests that the warriors retreat to a pub, have a pint and leave the lassies well enough alone! ( By the way take any left over velcro with you!) Yes Patrick I did get the message..Patrick 3...Gretchen 0.... not sure where your figures come from but we all know the Irish can't count. Not to worry..all good things take time.

As for the ARC sisters giving in the goods...WRONG! and blaming Hillary! of all People!!? Sorry but the shoe and purse girl could never ever go for velcro over the real thing. To think that I would fall for that. More like a restless and bored Irishman with nothing to do with his days except check the daily blogs of his coworkers. Or perhaps worried that the ARC sisters might be talking about ye. As for knowing who Kym is...are we reading more than the ARC sisters blogs? We really do have time on our hands! What tree are we barking up?

Now as for the appearance of the Mysterious Knight...in shining armor I presume...another silent fan of the ARC girl's escapades up until now? I wonder what phrase or word ended up on some search engine to lead you to her domain? She thanks you for your chivalry and protecting her honor on line, but do you have the antidote for velcro toxicity?
And she cant help but
wonder how much of the gold you quaffed before announcing your presence....

So Super sibs and ARC sisters I can only hope these two find a corner pub, and leave the ARC girl to continue saving the world from famine, flood and fire as well as raising those two delightful urchins, Ty and Care. By the way the junior Princess of Sedgwick cut off ALOT of her hair yesterday and now really looks like her Mom. Shoulder length and she says ..no its not the same cut as yours!! And the Prince is due for a hair cut , or should I say overdue for a hair cut tommorow..he says it will affect his stress level in taking the MEA's on Monday..ARC MOM said get over it!!

well off for the night..snow..imagine that tommorow..please no conference calls its only a snow storm for heavens sake..
ARC girl needs a day off after this week of pandemics, fires and velcroed phones.

en garde

2008-02-28T18:53:00.000-08:00

Well, Well, seems as if ARC girl has gone public...not that her blog isn't in the public domain, but the fact that the IRA can find it amongst all its empty kegs of Guiness, barrels of Irish whiskey and leftover packages of Velcro,and of course the thousand post it notes... leaves her wondering what is sacred anymore!! Wonder who the let the "cat out of the bag" or the "sheep out of the paddock" as Patrick would say!

Since we know it wasnt one of the Super sibs as they have no clue who Patrick is and he is still trying to figure out who Kym in the gym is...we can only guess it was one of the ARC Sisters!!
Hmmmm.

It doesn't change things though, war is war! Be forwarned Paddy, my moat is protected from maruders and pirates and cupcake wielding puppets and you will pay for your little schemes.
One doesnt cross the ARC girl or the Princess of Sedgwick more than once!!

In other worldly news the ARC girl helped prevent mass panic and lawlessness on MDI today as we worked through a table top drill that involved a cruise ship landing with a pandemic strain of flu at the same time as a tourist bus crashes on the Trenton Bridge disabling the bridge for 12 hours or more! Meanwhile during the drill, all the firemen get up and leave because there actually IS a fire on MDI..the chief comes back and puts me on alert..in case they need assistance for the family. Meanwhile my cell phone emergency text goes off telling me this and that road is closed due to the fire...geez! Luckily the fire damage as far as what was relayed back to me was minimal and I stayed at the exercise. All in a days work..luckily there was no velcro in the room.

Then it was off to another open house for 8th graders this time at EHS..which is where Ty is going whether he wants to or not...and fortunately it was a great night..he was impressed with the offerings both in academics and extracurricular and it didnt hurt that a few cute girls already at the school seemed to know him and came up to talk to him, as well as several teachers. His sister really paved the way for him there!

So that's it from this post...

A "sticky" day at ARC

2008-02-25T16:57:00.000-08:00

Well, you havent heard from me because the ARC girl was kicked out of her office for three days last week by the Irish terrorist and CPR instructor Patrick Walsh, who was teaching other people how to be CPR instructors. Unfortunately during his lunch hour he also engaged in IRA clandestine terrorism to the poor unsuspecting ARC girl.

I returned to my office today, turned on my computer and tried to move my computer mouse which was VELCROED to the mouse pad...I knew in an instant who had done it and reached for the phone to give him a piece of my mind..of course when I picked up the receiver I picked up the entire phone...velcro!! It took ten minutes to get that phone apart. Finnally got the Bangor office on the phone and they said he was on the phone had one call on hold and another call ahead of mine..I said fine give him a message...You are a little S.....! My Boss Suzan said do you want that to say "love Gretchen"? I said fine..she said I will personally deliver!

All day long I kept finding things velcroed down...once I reached for a package of Tictacs..even they were stuck to the desk!!!!! After lunch I opened my top drawer to get out a staple remover and there was the word "velcro" from the package and "rocks" taped next to it!! Jeeez!!!!
My day was so disjointed by this time I was hardly accomplishing anything. At the very end of the day, I noticed we had a health and safety pickup the next day and I needed to call and find out what time and exactly what she needed as a large equipment pickup was happening the following day..as I reached for the phone book...yep velcroed to the next one! I threw them across the room! I picked more velcro off stuff today than I can ever tell you!! Pay back will be hell!

So Tyler who thinks Pat is a riot says can I have his email Mom..so I go on a new email account I have since getting DSL and there is an email from Pat...with the title "rock on with.."
and there is a link to some band called the Velcro punks or something...UGH!!!!!!!

So thats it today from the ARC girl...You can bet she will be working hard on this one!!!

R A I N

2008-02-13T12:10:00.000-08:00

OK, so much for snow...we had about 8 inches last night and this morning, and now its pouring.
AND flooding...everywhere. ARC is putting the girl up for the night in the big city.. Ellsworth. Whoo hoo! The Surry road is apparently impassable, route 15 has a muti car accident, and several areas of Hancock county are under water..so I will be near the office to take care of things as they arise instead of trying to get out of Sedgwick ..if I could indeed get into Sedgwick..
All in all it will make Ralph the county EMA director happy to know he doesnt have to send a pontoon boat out to get me or some other amphibious craft..

Last night a friend and I took our teens to Across the Universe, the movie thats a musical about all the Beetles music...it was actually pretty good. The story came together which I kind of wondered about at the beginning, and the music was great of course..they tied all the 1960's history into it and all in all it was worth seeing. A few metaphorical scenes..some a little iffy.
It was interesting to hear the two of them laugh or make a comment at certain scenes, and us , on others...we lived the time period and their generation glorifies it, or so it seems.

Valentines day tommorow, Ty also had to go shopping for his lady last night. While we were in Rite aid picking up a card, there was a woman in front of us buying saran wrap.., to get this..saran wrap her bosses car!! Now I have heard of just about everything but saran wrapping a car!!!! Tyler and I got in the car and started to talk about how Caroline would react if she came out to find someone had sealed her car in plastic wrap and we got hysterical just thinking about it.

Well thats all from the flood zone...hopefully it will be a quiet night in the big city.
ARC girl

S N O W

2008-02-11T16:48:00.000-08:00

Guess what ...it snowed last night! Imagine that..and you know what I think that its going to snow for the rest of the week...Snow. its a four letter word..hmmmmmm.
I have not seen the pavement in Sedgwick in weeks..of course they ran out of SNOW money.. and had to have a special town meeting to move ..get this 70,000 dollars into the SNOW removal budget..which only a few people attended. BECAUSE..they didn't advertise the meeting....WHY you ask...BECAUSE they gave the snow removal contract to someone new this year and they have done such a lousy job all the town officials have gotten is complaints ad nauseum. So with our new infusion of 70,000 dollars what did we get? NOT much...a little more sand maybe.
Once you hit the Blue Hill town line though and see the bare pavement...you just have to wonder. Although today snow removal was not going real well in Blue Hill either....all the way to Ellsworth as a matter of fact...as myself and about 15 other cars can testify as we followed this plow truck from the fair grounds in Blue Hill to almost Westwood Drive in Ellsworth at 20-25 mph.

I wish I had brought the newspaper...or my book group book which I am never going to finish by Wednesday night..I am sure I could have gotten alot done on the way in...25 miles at 20mph is a long time in a car. Didnt somebody write a play called the "winter of my discontent"..

Oh and then there is the guy who shovels my office out....right....no such person...
I wasnt thinking there would be too much today until I saw the drift in front of the door. The wind must have done that last night...at least the parking lot was plowed today..the other day they put a snow bank in front of the building.

Well we can all look on the bright side...we will all have a "white Valentines Day"!
ARC girl

Tuesday

2008-02-05T12:30:00.000-08:00

Well I really didnt want to write anything yesterday knowing half of New England was in mourning over the Patriots. So I have given everyone a day to get over it..and hopefully you all have..everyone who knows me closely knows I am not a Bill Belichick fan, but he really should have stuck with the tattered grey sweatshirt I guess! Do feel for Brady though!

Speaking of other competitions my son, reluctantly was in the Union spelling bee last night. He didnt even tell me had made it until one night at 10:30 pm. He made it thru 8 rounds and ended up 4th one shy of placing which is just exactly where he wanted to be...he wanted no part of having to go to the next level..the County bee! Besides this is Tournament week for Coastal league Basketball and he wants to have blue striped hair by Thursday...after all what is more important??!! I am not sure I am going to let him match his hair to his uniform, ugh!

Yesterday my job consisted of Flu..Pandemic and otherwise. I spent the morning on a conference call about a Pandemic exercise going on later in the month. Then Bangor called with a request for a press release about flu and cold season. So finished up and as I was just leaving Ellsworth my phone rang and a very weak voice said...Mom! It was Caroline she had been in the school clinic for 4 hours with a 103 fever, body aches, fainted, ear infection,etc etc. They think she has the real thing sent her home with antibiotics, tamiflu etc. Of course with her asthma she is supposed to get the flu shot every year and I harped but to no avail this year!
Talked to her today and she didn't sound quite as weak, but its hard being the Mom thousands of miles away!

Took almost an hour to drive in this morning in the snow someone forgot to send me the memo about! Now its kinda freezing rain or something for the ride home and I actually did pay attention to the weather for tommorow...like more of the same! HOW nice! Maybe I will give up Winter for lent! Ash Wednesday is tommorow does that work??
ARC Girl

Sittin' in Siberia here...

2008-01-30T08:41:00.000-08:00

OK ARC girl is not...NOT a happy camper...NO heat again today...apparently they got the furnace (relic) to start up with some new parts last night after I left but then it quit again..I am supposed to teach a class here tonight that I really want to get out of the way..so I am hoping things can get up and running later today. IN the meantime I have a little warm fan on my desk (which is keeping me personally warm)..and an electric heater which is probably accomplishing nothing in the classroom area. I will have to make a decision at some time whether to cancel or not when these techs finish up.
Can't get a hold of the manager of the building to get permission to do a complete overhaul of furnace which is what Webber oil would like to do...

So for the second day in a row I am not accomplishing much...I will put together my class later, and stay near my warm desk for the day, and I have a bunch of emails and phone calls so I guess I can keep busy. If it isnt one thing with this building its another...

Really hoping for some warmth...

Mobile musings...for Tuesday night

2008-01-29T17:32:00.000-08:00

I have been banished from the downstairs because I was playing with my new mobil phone and trying to figure out what the ring was going to sound like and apparently I was irritating everyone! So...I had to come up here and play on the computer instead, after of course trying to figure out the phone..which I think I got to ring..like a phone...I hate having those other ring tones..I just want it to sound like a phone, not some canned musak. It is a pretty nice phone and I guess I really went quite awhile without an upgrade..now I can actually hear people and I bet they can hear me better too!

Today was a not the best of days for the ARC girl...no heat in the ARC office. Walked in the door and just knew something was up. Fuel had been delivered a week ago, so they had to send a tecnician over and told me he wouldnt come until late afternoon but I had to wait for him..great it was about 45 degrees in there! He showed up with in the half hour...but it took all day and several trips for parts including a trip to Bangor..which meant by midafternoon my car was warmer than my office...NO kidding it really was! So I took a ride for stamps and something hot to drink. Left at 3pm, which was an hour ahead of schedule so I decided today was the day to upgrade the phone..of course it will take miss technology here the better part of the next month to get the hang of this phone, but I am liking it already! Except that they banished me upstairs for making too much noise!

Other than that my oldest and dearest friend lost his Mom on Friday to Alzheimers Disease.
She had had it for years, but he said even though you know its coming it is still so hard. The funeral is on Saturday, that will be a little hard.
Well that's it from the techno Princess tonight...
Hoping to have a WARM day tommorow!

Ten Things

2008-01-25T07:44:00.000-08:00

Ginny Tagged me to List Ten things I might have done that others might not have so here goes:

1.Went up in one of Steve Fossetts trans-atlantic hot air balloons when I was a kid.

2.Serenaded on several birthdays by a Grammy award winning artist.

3. Didnt have tickets but drove to Boston and Saw Yaz hit his 3000th !!

4. Moved to the exact town my parents desperately wanted to move to when I was a teenager and I thought then was "the end of the earth"!

5. Had my photo in an article for Family Circle Magazine and didnt know it until my sister read the magazine.

6. Owned my own gourmet store on the coast of Maine, frequented by some great customers!

7. Listen to Van Morrison at least once a day!

8. Took job with and became a Red Cross Nurse, a couple decades after my Mom got her Red Cross nurse pin.

9. Look out every day onto one of the most beautiful views and never take it for granted.

10. Have two incredible, talented and beautiful children...don't we all? But who make me smile and laugh and sing and cry and burst with pride every single day!!!!

Rattled..

2008-01-23T08:00:00.000-08:00

I know you all expect some witty reparte about me saving the world with ARC or some other incident on the home front that usually has some humor to it...but I have none for you. Instead,
a pretty disturbing incident that rattled the house, and my sense of security...

Two weekends ago, seven car windows were smashed or shot out in the town of Sedgwick, all randomly. Sunday night, while one of the football games was on, we heard a loud cracking sound on the front living room windows. Don was convinced it was Ice on just one window...I was convinced it was both windows. I asked him to go out and check the cars, none the less. He did not see anything. Later he heard another loud noise and again checked the cars, nothing or so we thought. Monday afterno0n Tyler got into the van and the entire back window shattered.
I called Don, who immediately called the police. I took Ty to his practice and on the way we saw other cars with destroyed windows. When the State detective arrived, he wanted to know what I had heard, of course I told him about the cracking sound at the front windows...we then walked to the front of the house and to my horror there were shot gun holes in both storm windows.
We went inside and collected BB shot out between the window and storm. He then told me that every window on all the school busses on Deer Isle had been shot out. As we stood outside talking, trucks would pull up and tell him where another car incident was that he did not yet have on his list. He said they had at least three detectives on this that day because the damages everywhere was so extensive.

There are no leads as of yet, only that both incidents occured on the weekend in the same geographic locations. One family lost their car windows on both weekends. Disturbing? VERY! The second weekend the damage and incidents escalated way beyond the first. We can only hope there will not be a third weekend.
ARC Girl

The top 10 list for the Sedgwick Princess

2008-01-17T12:38:00.000-08:00

This was sent to me this week, and I know my super sibs will appreciate it, the rest of you will only get about 1/2 of it but it was beyond "Clever"...the author shall remain anonymous:

TOP TEN SEDGWICK PRINCESS TIPS ON HOW TO SURVIVE THE IMPENDING RECESSION:

10. The butlers complimentary membership to Kebo? gone.
9.The Bentley really can run on regular.
8. Prepaid tuition at GW can often be found at a sharp discount in Uncle Henry's
7. For the nightly milk bath, switch to 2%
6.No more inflight movies on the Lear Jet
5. Dinner guests will never know that your elk meatloaf has been stretched by slipping in a little ground veal.
4. Cancel subscription to wrestling monthly.. (like I would ever have one!)
3. Four or five empty Moet bottles per week make for handsome refund at redemption center.
2. Attention Robin Leach: you spill any more Pinot in the Hinckley and YOU pay for clean up
1. With just a pair of scissors, the hubbys cumberbund becomes the perfect mask to hold up the Irving Mainway!

cheers!

2008-01-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

Ok Super sib #3, just for you, and I have been reading your stuff! Kinda had a bad end to the week last week with just a bunch of stuff piling up on top of each other and by Friday I was not a happy person. Wasn't really "blog" material, except the fact that after 3 trys they can not fix our chimney and we have to tear it down and get a new one! That one put me over the edge, as I was not impressed with the guys who were supposidly trying to fix it in the first place.

Took Caroline down to Portland on Saturday afternoon and we stopped in at Jenn and Pauls tail gate party, then went to the Old Port for dinner and back to Kathi's. She flew out Sunday at Noon. I then met Aisha for coffee in Brunswick, which was great, we talked for about two hours, since we did not have alot of time to gether over Christmas break.

Monday of course was snowstorm # 102 but whose counting? Drove home to find 172 had not been plowed for hours. This has been an extreme problem in Sedgwick this year and we have not complained but I drove through about 6-7 inches of unplowed snow for about 8 miles and that was just about enough ...and I was still cranky from the week before, so I called the first selectman and told him what I thought of the roads and their condition! I know they have been getting alot of calls, so one more can't hurt. They finally came by around 5pm! UNREAL.

So I am having a dinner party Saturday night...an Irish night ending in a whiskey tasting of some very special bottles a Jameson's Gold and a Bushmills 18. I have had alot of fun with the menu, and it should all be great. Buckinghams, Sullivans and Mark Osborne. Paul of course has already been a pain, asking to approve the menu, etc...Mark is making me nervous, because he is a gourmet cook and so I have had some angst over it all, but I am looking forward to a fun time. I know Tyler can't wait because he knows some of the menu and definitely wants to partake. Need these things in the winter to look forward to!

Will let you in on how it all goes! Sib #1/ARC girl

Waiting for my date...

2008-01-08T08:25:00.000-08:00

So you know how the guys always complain that its the women who can't seem to get dressed and ready on time..not in my house! Never in my house! Tyler snapped this picture of his mom all dressed and ready to go to the 12th night dinner Sunday night, which is a Black tie dinner, that a friend hosts every year and as usual I was hanging around "waitin for my date".

Now it doesn't matter what the event, time of year, or what he has to change into..its always the same..."waitin for my date!" Sunday he had to go play "old mens basketball" as we call it at home. The Tux had been cleaned from the year before so all he had to do was take it out of the dry cleaners bag! No brainer! All of a sudden I hear him yell for a flash light...huh?? So I get one out of the drawer and take it upstairs so get this...he can see in his top drawer for dark socks!!!

Now I know putting on formal attire takes time, but hello, so does makeup hair etc. I am downstairs!!!! And it doesnt matter the event we could be going to a barbeque..shorts and tshirt and he isnt ready! Takes after his Mom..always went back in the house for something or back upstairs for something. Its not that he cant get dressed fast he just won't..last minute always! ALWAYS!

So don't ever let anyone tell you its the women of the world that are behind schedule...take the Three Wise Men, which is the reason we went to a 12th night dinner in the first place...it took them 12 days to get to the baby Jesus! Do you really think it would have taken three wise women that long???

ARC girl

Happy New Year

2008-01-03T12:39:00.000-08:00

Hello faithful readers....yeah right! I am alive, survived and ready for the next adventure! And if you believe that....

Christmas was chaos as usual..18 people for dinner on Tuesday and then 12 more the following Saturday and that took care of both immediate families, cousins, etc etc. There were a few minor crisis I was not expecting this time around including when I went to pick up the Rib Roast at the Farmers Market and it was not there and I had to run around the Saturday before Christmas looking for a 7rib Roast! Then there was the huge infection Tyler decided to get in his arm just below the elbow that had to be incised and drained and meant two trips to ER, including Christmas Eve! And the piece de resistance....the tickets to the Christmas Carol at the Grand, for 5, our Family and Carolines Boy friend that had us seated DIRECTLY behind the old Boyfriend, who can not get over her! That was a fun time!!

Gotta love that Holiday, thank Heavens it only comes once a year....there were of course some wonderful moments with just the family including Caroline and I driving back from the Portland airport in a snowstorm (what else is new!) she singing, me driving..it was great! Not sure how we did it...but we did.

Alex the boy friend was a great sport, considering how many people he had to meet and put up with..Aisha popped in often, and looked much less stressed now that her semester is over, so all in all a nice end of the Year.

Back to work has meant shoveling duty just about every day. Some days a foot or more! The plow guys have been good and when they see me out there come over with a bucketloader to take the snow away from the ramp. They usually clear me a spot to park too. It has also meant fires, two on MDI alone in two days..not a great sign.

Not much exciting from downtown ARC office..hope you all had a nice Holiday and New Years and that this gets me off Ginnys infamous list again!

Before the madness..

2007-12-21T10:26:00.000-08:00

Hello all, this will be the last sane piece from me...my home and all other parts of my life will no longer belong to me after I leave work today! Quite frankly I think it started yesterday...

So Monday I arrived at work to get a few things done before heading to wrapping booth...no phone no internet...plow truck had taken all the wires down to the building. NOW you can not just call Verizon and ask them to put them back, your phone and internet people have to come here see that there are wires down and call verizon and tell them, That takes three days by the time each call is made! That was just a wee bit on the frustrating side!

Tuesday night was the first Bay School/Sedgwick basket ball game of the season, always a true rivalry. We do not have nearly the team they have this year and although Tyler was having a great game we were behind by 14 in the 4th then all of a sudden he caught us up and it was a two pointer. We lost by two but Ty scored 37 points, 16/21 from the foul line. It was amazing!

Wednesday was Carolines flight into Portland, what was supposed to be flurries eventually developed into a coastal storm so once again, I was driving in snow and darkness, I have been doing that alot lately. She put on a new cd I had and sang and we just got into a groove and moved along. Made it! Probably not the best weather to have driven it but it was good to get her home. Thursday ended up being a snow day for Ty and he had his buddies over and they took over the house...the beginning of the end of my control!!!

Today, Friday Alex arrives, and well, the kids will all settle into vacation routine, and then family will arrive and it will be utter chaos. NOthing is wrapped, and my list is growing not shrinking, I still do not have the final count for Christmas dinner, and I am not even sure I have the final menu! So the house is clean..right now, and I know whats for dinner tonight and after that....its flying by the seat of my pants....I dont like not having everything done, and in order but there is no two ways around it, the older these kids get the more disorganized and not ready for it all I get! There is just always much much more to do!

So let the madness begin....Happy holidays to you and yours Gretchen

Slap on the hand!

2007-12-12T11:02:00.001-08:00

Apparently I have made Ginny's bad blogger list TWO.. that's "2" weeks in a row! Imagine that.
So what has ARC girl been doing since Nov. 30??? Working for ARC!!! So first week of December there was a monster snow storm and I did not have snow tires on my car yet and there was NO WAY I was driving in..we got 14 inches in Hancock County. But EMA knew where I was and if they wanted me they could send the trucks for me!! Then I had meetings, and deployments and fires! None of which were pleasant or easy. I was extremely agitated by Friday the 7th with the service center. I was upset about a bad fire and young couple left with nothing, and went to bed with alot of stuff still up in the air. Fortunately my email showed in the morning that some people apparently do work the graveyard shift and some issues were cleared up by Saturday morning. Then by Sunday I was back in a mess again by getting my password locked out of JP Morgan Bank. Now we only have to have 8-10 passwords in this organization several of which expire on a monthly basis and several which will not let you reuse passwords!!!
It is a royal pain.

I have also volunteered at the wrapping booth, which is fun, and made a trip to Augusta yesterday to find out just how poorly we are all doing client case work if we are audited! So thats work for ARC Girl and if that is not enough..the social schedule is full.

Parties since Saturday the first...including my own birthday mixed in there..shopping and decorating for Christmas, Tylers Basketball games and concerts etc have made my life hectic at best! So that's my best excuses for the list!!

In other news Sib #3 who had her achilles operated on had to have it redone on Tuesday!
Not a good thing. Caroline flies home next Wed. Boyfriend comes on Friday! My tree is huge..not sure where that thing is going to go...its very shall we say...wide! There is going to be some major rearranging this weekend to get that thing to fit where it won't take over the house!
So that is life in the fast lane..
ARC Girl

Finnally Friday...

2007-11-30T10:11:00.000-08:00

For some reason this has been a strange week...but its winding down. Monday this office had a class in it with 10 people from the new Lowes so it was a tad bit crowded and impossible to get any work done..unfortunately I had an Armed Forces Emergency Call to deal with too! Tuesday night was the big announcement from national that we no longer had a President for the ARC.
That made for interesting Wednesday, as well as some "irritable" shall we say people at the service center, who thought my lunch needed to be cut short. Thursday was meeting and appointment day and came home to Ty not being in a very happy mood. Don was also over night at a meeting...So Finnally Friday!!!!!!

Had hoped to have a few people for dinner on Saturday, that didn't work out, but then one of the guests, turned the table and we are going there...Jill's birthday is Saturday and she decided to throw herself a dinner. Which means Paul and I get to "spar" a little. He called the other night and when I said I had alot to tell him it had been awhile, he said then have me over, for a drink, right now (this guy needs a real job! grammy award winning musician for all of you who don't know him)...I said Paul, the guys arent even home yet from Basketball..they haven't had dinner...Henry his son is off to Milton Academy this year..
he of course said...Gretch do you ever wonder why Don does all these things outside of the home?? Ha Ha...He is convinced his wife and I are evil twins seperated at birth, ready to devour poor, innocent men! I told him I had a new friend who remarked about my "persistent whining" Me?
I mean really!!...Paul said "Gotta meet him...compare notes! That sounds like a fun evening.

Caroline called last night. Had taken in her first performance at the Kennedy center. She was in the stratosphere somewhere. It was basically a one woman show, an actress from London who is also in alot of the Harry Potter movies. The day before, her advisor and Chair of GW's theatre Dept got to do a TV interview from a small theater at the Kennedy and the students from GW got to attend. Caroline tried to get tickets to the show at Leslies reccomendation but was unable. The tickets were pretty steep, so she decided not to go when one of her friends mother, bought two seats for her daughter and a friend as a birthday gift. Caroline said it was so inspiring after seeing the interview with the actress. She was filled with renewed excitement at being a theater student.

So trying to stay off Ginnys list.. trying to avoid shelter surveys, but look like I'm still working.
Suzan and Pat are cutting out paper for Canadian tourists and Hillary is listening to Muzak at the mall and stealing wireless from Ruby Tuesdays, and Ginny and Lynn are Christmas shopping...lot of work going on today at ARC...Have a good one.

ARC girl...unhappy with ARC boy!

2007-11-28T10:17:00.000-08:00

If you have been living under a rock and didn't hear the news last evening..as Brian Williams so eloquently put it "the embattled American Red Cross" took another hit yesterday when it's president of 6months..yep SIX months got caught with another red crosser! Charming!
Or as my friend and owner of the local news and radio station emailed me..quote.."ouch!"
What unfortunately Joe Q public does not know is that "we" little guys send money to those "big guys" in DC and we get NO money from them to serve our public...no matter how many families we take care of..unless it becomes a disaster of certain proportions. One of the other qualities one must have to work for this organization is thick skin! Our dirty laundry is always public.

In other news, Thanksgiving was a whirlwind of travel and family. But alot of fun. Caroline was home for a short but intense time and I think she enjoyed herself as she got to see so many people.

Phone call yesterday from my "cancer free" little sister in law!!!!!!! YIPEEEE! of course this means five years of ct scans, and then you can really say that. But we will take anything at this point!!!!

And in the making a mark on the world category..Tyler sat down with Don B. principal of Sedgwick School and asked if he could do a large mural on a hallway wall for his eighth grade project. He showed Don his sketches and they were approved!! Now he has to do a scale drawing with the art teacher, figure out types of paints and he may have to go before the school board. He is thrilled.

So back to work for the worlds largest charitible organization...ARC Girl

It was Fantastik!

2007-11-19T08:07:00.000-08:00

You knew you would all have to hear about it!! I had a wonderful trip to DC this weekend, I am exhausted! (coffee by IV would be nice) but I am so glad I went down. The part was a perfect Caroline part. Louisa was a young girl in love, a little ditzy, well maybe a lot ditzy! Actually "touched" would be a better description! And so her timing and lines were just perfect. The vocal portion was an extremely challenging part. She had numerous songs as well as just vocalizations during songs, it was almost exhausting. I saw the play both Friday and Saturday at 7pm but they also did a 10 pm show..so by Sat night I am not sure what her voice was like for the last show. A very talented cast, they all seemed to enjoy the piece. I couldnt believe how many kids relatives came in for the show. It was really nice.
These students are from all over the country and Thanksgiving is this week..so it was quite something.

Caroline and I spent the day together Saturday, went to Georgetown for Brunch..she didnt get in until 3am or so..and we had to call the front desk to get someone to turn off a tv that had been left on in another room! So after letting her sleep in a little we headed out. Wandered the shops afterwards, then took her to Trader Joes so she could get some grocerys on her mother! Went back to the dorm, where she g0t ready for another show. Boyfriend Alex went to both of the Saturday night shows, as well as her roomates. So most of the weekend was centered around the play, but it was just so good.

Lectured her about getting to the airport EARLY on Wednesday! It is going to be crazy. Luckily she has a direct flight. So hopefully no issues. She is going to take a cab and avoid the metro too. When I arrived at Union Station from the Baltimore Airport...AmTrak was a complete zoo. People were jammed everywhere trying to get to trains, I almost had to backtrack through all the lines when some amtrack person got the bright idea to close one of the corridors! I said I'm not trying to get in I'm trying to get out! My flights were both full and I had to go through Manchester, as the flights through Portland were too high, as it was close to the Holiday. So I am tired from all the driving. "planes trains and automobiles"
It was so worth it though!

Well I should attempt some work today...Happy Monday..short week! Yippee! Happy Turkey Day...maybe I will find appetizer recipes on line! (Of course my boss is reading this!)

The Girls

2007-11-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

Vamps really! My daughter (on right) and her roomates, Halloween! Thats who I am hanging with this weekend!! Caroline has the lead in the Fantastiks and I am leaving for DC on Friday.

Its really close to her Thanksgiving break but I am not going to miss her in a leading role!

Lets see what else is going on...looks like the roof is done. The flat roof/ and leaky door too. Only thing left is the clean up and the relining of the chimney. Considering the gas and oil prices that needs to happen soon. I am being very careful about turning up the heat.

One week until Thanksgiving..spending that in Portland after we pick up Caroline at the airport.

We will bring her home on Friday for a couple of nights with friends. Then back to Portland on Sunday. She is home again for Christmas on the 19th. /a new beau will be joining us at some point for the holidays. Never a dull moment and never a Christmas with out a cast of thousands! I have been toying with taking out only half of my decorations this year going with the 'subdued look'. We shall see.

Back to work.

Under construction...continued.

2007-11-08T09:11:00.001-08:00

The Saga continues....the Mainly vinyl people come over with my husband to reinspect flat roof.
The one with new high tech roofing material (not the one with the fancy shingles mind you!) Now they say they have to tear out the glass doors and put the new material under the door frame!!! So my chimney is not working...have to special order new liner because liner did not work that they tried on MOnday...Staging is up for shingles and we are tearing out a door!
Its NOVEMBER!!!!! If I ignore this it might all go away...you know click my heels.......theres no place like home..there's no place like home....its not working......

In other news, Red Cross hero's breakfast was this morning. Always awe inspiring to hear the stories. And Suzan makes us feel good about working for this organization. Other than Micky 0bsessing over flower vases it was very nice. Got in early so I am going home early today too.
Not much else going on...ARC girl.

Under construction..

2007-11-07T07:39:00.000-08:00

My house that is...that's what it feels like right now. There is staging up against the back side where Don is shingling the roof. The chimney for the wood stove is being relined because the tiles are cracked from some "incident" and the flat roof off the computer room has been reroofed but is leaking..terribly! I'm thinking how did we get here??? Well, we have this old house 1870's colonial which has "character". We try to do at least one maintenance project and one
"new" project a year. By new I mean something that shows...you know like new cabinets, remodels, stuff like that.

So the Flat roof which is off the computer room has sliders out to it all it needs is a deck. This would finish off the look of the back of the house! (my definition of new project) but the roofing material needed to be replaced. So Mainly vinyl came over stripped off the tar and whatever was flecking off on to the deck below and put this high tech stuff on so we could perhaps put a deck up there...It now leaks ...no pours into the kitchen! I came home yesterday to two inches in a bucket!

In the mean time the chimney cleaner came and said the chimney had some kind of thermal incident the tiles were severly cracked and the whole thing needed to be relined!!! Has anyone priced oil this year?? Has anyone thought of going without an alternative heat source?? Do you know how much it costs to have a chimney relined? Oh and by the way they came the other day to do it and they now have to use an alternative method because the tiles can not be removed.

At some point during all this my husband gets the grand idea that he needs to reshingle the roof.
Yep, 50 year old man who's main job in life is "driving a LMD....Large mahogany desk...is going to reshingle the roof of a 3 story colonial. HMhhhmm. Tyler calls the guys "old men roofers".
Now one night at dinner I whined (an art I have perfected) about the fact that all our house money this year is going to maintence instead of asthetics. When he said well, (now that he is the general manager of this high end building co.) I ordered top of the line shingles. These are the kind that go on million dollar homes! "They have a layered feathered look".
Now my roof is three stories up there...I can't see those shingles!!!! What I can see is staging, roofing paper blowing thru my rose bushes and....no new carpeting for my staircase.

Unfortunately all that time spent on the ladders and staging and he has decided to order cedar shingles (pre stained...yippee!) for the back side of the house. There goes my second floor deck and the small bluestone patio I had hoped for next summers projects........

You are all probably wondering why does she own this place....its location location location! I have so many dreams for the place, and I can always see beyond the current mess to the view,
it doesnt have closets, at least for people who have actual wardrobes, and the bathrooms are the size for when people bathed on Sundays, but "she has beautiful bones" and one heck of a view.
Its home.

Hey I did it.

2007-11-05T11:14:00.000-08:00

Papelbon..a la Tyler O'Grady! For my sister who missed it all while in Italy! He even danced for people when he went Trick or treating! And its his sister who has the theater scholarship!

So we all survived hurricane Noel...I got out of it really good. Everyone around me lost power and apparently is still out! There were trucks everywhere when I went to work today (two days post storm!) Rockland office has an entire "very needy" group of people who are out of an apartment building due to flooding. They kept calling here wondering where their lunch was!

Hmmmm.

My LB called yesterday from the airport wondering where "the mother was" and did I have her itinerary. I t old him if she got out of JFK on Sat night she was due in Bangor at 2:30. She apparently gave him her departure time as her arrival time. He was headed back to the bar.

Well other than cleaning the office today, and answering everyone elses phones I have not much else to report. (I did paint a bathroom and part of the computer area this weekend. So I have accomplished something.) Also moved a cabinet around in here to give myself some more space for "stuff"...anything to avoid the inevitable shelter work that I will eventually get back to.

Happy Monday all.

Highlights of the past few days...

2007-10-31T08:57:00.000-07:00

Tyler asking me for a Papelbon t-shirt then coming downstairs in said shirt, black compression shorts over plaid red sox pjs, Green red sox hat on backwards, red goggles on top of that, and a cigar...ala Jonathan and his jig outfit...Drop Kick Murphys playing in the background

Don "heading" in the ball for a goal against the kids in the parent/kids soccer game yesterday!!!

Tyler and I made up as ghouls for the haunted house at the barn castle complete with fake blood, black eyes and white faces, having our picture taken in a couple of nooses! A mother and son moment!

Moi...in warm ups, the new Target Red cross T-shirt, ("YOU Can SAVE A LIFE") and my running shoes taking on my sons team in soccer...my thighs are killing me!

Ty's pumpkin...for the doorstoop....an incredible carving of the Boston "B"!!

Paul Sullivan..(grammy award winning pianist) coming to haunted house, seeing Ty getting "cut up" by evil doctor and yelling for Nurse Gretchen...not knowing I was lying on the floor nearby as the mummy!!

Emailing the office that I didnt wear anything for Halloween!

Happy Halloween..Trick or Treat...ARC Girl

We raised 'em right!

2007-10-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

They really are Red Sox fans....my kids that is. I always wondered if it was just a fad for them or something to do, until last night 12:something am just as the Sox won the world series and were running onto the field the phone rang...we told Tyler to go answer it. I really thought it would be one of Don's siblings including one who was actually there..but no it was Caroline from Washington DC and I heard Tyler say "I almost threw up, I was so nervous..." "I didn't think he would catch that ball at the wall".

Yes they have the hats..not the traditional one their dad wears, faded blue with red, but Yellow for her, Green with a red shamrock on the back for him. She was in Love with Johnny the bad boy Damon with his long hair. When we were on college tours in Boston in 2004, we were at the gates one night as they all got out of their cars for their evening match up with the Yankees and they all waved and acknowledged their fans..Caroline was about 5 feet from Johnny Damon! He of course broke her heart by moving on to the evil empire. Her brother as a little one, wore a redsox baseball jacket everysingle day!! To the point when it was Halloween I said now what are you going to wear and he said "this" I am going to be a base ball player...

But neither had gone through the decades of heartbreaking losses and frustrating endings to seasons that make you a "true Boston fan" and you always go back for more in the spring no matter how stupid or bad they were the season before! I really didn't believe they knew what it meant until this weekend. Tyler would watch the game with the computer on IM'ing his friends or listening to music and Caroline seemed to be interested in just upsetting her Yankee fan friends...but Saturday night I called home and Tyler already had the game on...without us....hmmmmm.
Sunday he text messaged his sister "Big game Care go sox! " And when the final two innings came he moved from his perch upstairs to sit with us downstairs hat on backwards and hands in prayer position. (He told me actually did say one!) Then came her phone call...watching the game in her dorm room!

To them the Red Sox mean a totally different thing, a classy organization, with top notch owners, players and a winning attitude and way! Two world series championships in their short lifetimes, they don't understand the agony and the curse and all that...For them This is what they will tell their kids about the 'great Boston teams of the decade' . Its a new era and
for those of us who lived in the old one....those are the" olden days!"

So to sweet Caroline and Her Brother Ty "Tessie is the royal rooters rally cry...." Love Mom

I go to Machias they go to Italy....

2007-10-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

So super sib #2 and mommie dearest are off to Italy today...hope sib 2 survives 10-12 days with the mother!!! I say WINE WINE WINE...I went to Ireland with her and my answer was BEER BEER BEER Guinness to be exact!! No don't get me wrong I love my mother...in short segments please! I basically gave her the scoop on 2007 air travel last weekend...you know ziplock bag with 2oz containers of liquids, take your shoes off in line..pack everything else...Deedee has alot of patience..she will take good care of her. She did call last night and ask if she could put her curling iron in her carryon and I said " I don't know why not" ( should have just said yes) and she said well have you...and I said no...but why not? and she says I don't know...why? So I said its not a weapon Mom its a curling Iron and she said well it could be!
Well for that matter a pencil could be!!!!!! Ughhh!

My brother was taking her to the airport in Bangor this am I had a parent teacher conference.
Speaking of Bangor....you know those fly out of Bangor ads??? If I could I would write them a letter....we cant get our volunteers out because the flights are so expensive and the service area won't approve the fares. NOt that this is surprising. But if I could invoke the Red Cross's name in a letter I would write a scathing one! When you read letters to the BDN that its 700.00 less out of Portland something is very wrong. While I was in yes you guessed it Machias yesterday, one of our volunteers was waiting out the second day of not getting out of Maine to the San Diego fires due to the travel issues.

So the sox are up by two and off to the Rockies..Ty is getting straight A's, (parent teacher conf.)
Daughter is teching a play this weekend. I have to work a haunted house on Sunday.
Ciao!

Out of the frying pan...

2007-10-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

So my job is one item only the past two days.....fires in CA. Trying to get volunteers out there.
The numbers are staggering, evacuations, # of fires, # of people in shelters etc. Our travel agency just gives people a busy signal right now so I have to wait to give them their staff cards and get them out. Phone has been unreal today.
Imagine that! Managed to get everyones health status ;up to date yesterday as this assignment has some health issues...Heavy smoke! I can't go on this one at least not on the first round due to air quality.

Ty has been gone for two days on an eighth grade trip, its been a little quiet at home...comes home tonight. That should lighten things up! Tommorow is a trip downeast. Machias. After hopefully getting one volunteer out of here, with his staff card! Hopefully he gets through to the travel agency.

Not much else to say...except that old Red Cross line .. BE Prepared for Emergencies.

Tessie

2007-10-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

Tessie is the Royal Rooters Rally Cry
Tessie is the tune they always sung
Tessie echoed April through October nights...

Up the road from third base to Huntington
The boys will always sing and sway

Two! Three! Four!

..Boston you know we love you madly
Hear the crowd roar to your sound
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Red Sox you are the only only only...

Lyrics Drop Kick Murphy

GO SOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What day is it?

2007-10-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy for days and out of the office for most of them that I am not sure what day it is....for the sake of this post its Thursday and I have done a weekend institute, a trip to Augusta, a day in Bangor including dealing with the car dealership and repairs and an evening annual meeting, I am so tired at night its unreal. My husband and I talk on the phone!
Tommorow the United States Marine Band will be in Ellsworth and of course yours truly is involved with that one....music boosters at the high school... this of course involves a total shut down of the building by 3pm, bomb sniffing dogs and lockdowns of certain exits and then security security security! Now two years ago we had the navy band but they are not the Presidents official band so I guess thats what the hullaballo is about.. Almost couldnt get my favorite store...Walmart to donate a few cases of water..can you believe it? Walmart the red white and blue store turning down water for the Presidents USMC band. I am sure that corporate HQ would have loved that one...fortunately someone came to their senses and I was given a gift card this morning for 25.00. The marine band only comes to Maine every 3 years and rarely plays in a small venue such as Ellsworth, ussually Maine Center for the Arts but they are closed this season for renovations. I was hoping that maybe I could call corporate and get the music boosters a big "we're so sorry donation" from Walmart if the water didn't come through. (of course someone would probably have been fired for that and I wouldnt have wanted that...its their own corporate policies that make these employee make these senseless decisions in the first place. The poor guy was following the rules..he had no more donated supply money for the month!)

The weekend was full of thrills and chills...lots of fun with my ARC colleagues from around the state at a mini institute held by our chapter so we did the teaching...but it is still nice to see everyone. Sunday was interesting though..I had a large group of African Americans in a client case work class who were there for political reasons rather than the class and ended up walking out en mass during the class .... upset with ARC policies? FEMA? I am not sure they sure had alot to argue about and finally just left. It was a little disturbing...ok alot disturbing to have 10 blacks get up and walk out (on cue..I think) all at once. Unfortunately I work for a very public agency and not without controversy so it was my first experience with what can happen. I have been taught well though and I did what I have been taught and stayed on course as best I could ( thankyou Pat , Ginny Lynn and Suzan for those skills).

Tuesday was a conference in Augusta that I quite frankly was not looking forward to as it was supposed to be a disaster mental health workshop and they have all been "the same" but this was excellent!!!! The speaker was actually ( for the first time) from the Red Cross, and worked at 9/11 and Katrina among other disasters and really gave a good workshop on supervision for
alot of areas not just mental health.

Wednesday my car finnally went in, Don has been on my case and quite frankly it has been acting up....so 200plus dollars later and a transmission fluids replacement and some other work and I have to admit it is running alot better. This meant the day in Bangor, did not bother going back to Ellsworth, by the time the car was ready, the annual meeting was at 5pm. So worked up there, helped with programs, etc. Pat was moaning about having to be a warm body at the meeting when Suzan presented him with a dozen roses and his 15 yr pin..that was pretty good.

So that gets me to today...which is Thursday...hmmm....functioning level not quite there today...
piles of stuff from the weekend and week around me and I cant think of what to do with it all.
This will be the first night home at a reasonable hour in days...so maybe tommorow I can accomplish something. Like find my desk!

If Sib #2 is reading this she better change the picture of that cat on her blog...or I am deleting her from my favorites list. Sib #3 needs entertainment the least you can do is provide!!
As for the sox....what a bunch ... no can pitch beyond the 4th inning and no one except 3 can hit...
PAAAAAthetic. Message for Sib #3 EHS beat MDI at MDI the last game of the season....
cant you just hear...go grEEEENeee. Double overtime win over JB have to play Caribou Friday.
And thats the sports report...

Until next time...

East of podunk and then some....

2007-10-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

Oh my word...I have been to the far reaches of Hancock county, for those of you who don't know where that is its about 30 some odd miles north east of Ellsworth to a little town called Aurora, near Amherst, after going thru Osborne! Yep. I never thought I would get there yesterday. They want to have a shelter, a red cross certified shelter, and no wonder they are out in the middle of nowhere. When I finnally got there I told them.."anything you want"..they laughed.
Seriously, the road there just kept going and going, I started to think I had missed something and called them, and they told me" just keep going." I finnally came to the end of 179, crossed the infamous "airline" to Calais and Canada, and onto Great Pond road. The airline community school serves several small, very small communities and is a K-8 school with just 40 kids. They were wonderful though. I went into the kitchen where they were preparing food that looked like it was for a Christmas fair or something...chocolate fudge, turtles, krispy bars with chocolate, all on fancy trays, cookies etc. They said they were having an X-Country meet and that they were known for their concessions. I should say! They were also cooking up chili, burgers etc. Busses started to arrive from all over Hancock county at that point and I saw several people I knew. It really was a beautiful drive, on the way back I crested a hill where you could see Camden Hills, Blue hill etc.

Quite different than my most recent excursion....DC! The daughter was great. Play was excellent. Actually it was a series of one acts, she was in one of them, all student written but you would swear they were professional. There was a theater reception friday night and several of her professors talked to us. Went to an Edward Hopper exihibit at the National Gallery on Sat. and then Georgetown and out to dinner with the new boyfriend Alex who is quite nice. Flew back Sunday. It was High 80's to 90 all weekend. She said there has been no fall weather there yet. Her next play is the musical the Fantastiks and she has the female lead. I hope to go down to see that in November.

Heading to the Queen City for the weekend, to teach for the ARC! Another Mini institute only this time a little closer to home. I am teaching the entire weekend with no breaks though so it will be tiring.

Life is busy, Gretchen

I know you are all wondering...

2007-10-03T11:00:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to be real smart and put a nice picture of Oktoberfest on my website but ... well work got in the way. I did bring the pictures on Monday to disaster staff meeting..but couldn't seem to get beyond that. In any case...the weather was perfect, the food was great, people were everywhere including under the tent in the evening eating....the weather was that good!!
Keg was emptied, bonfire ended the evening and I was exhausted. By Sunday afternoon the backyard looked like nothing had ever happened. It really was a great day...lots of people in costume, warm weather and what more could you ask for?

Short week for me, I leave Friday for DC, Caroline is in her mainstage production Friday night.
There is a faculty, department and cast reception afterwards that we are invited to. So should be exciting and fun. Just bought her the broadway cd of the Fantastiks per her request. She has alot of music to learn for that show. But the part is right up her alley. In anycase I can't wait to see her..

Lots of Ty's soccer still going on, really leading that team. Doesn't seem to bored with school. Mrs Arendt has him doing a project...putting together a soundtrack for scenes from Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. ( he picks 8 or 10 scenes and then picks the music to accompany them and explain why he chose that piece) If that isn't an interesting use of his time I don't know what is. He has had to use only musical pieces too, nothing with lyrics in it...so he's had to go through the entire music collection at home. Basically pulling off straight a's otherwise. Taking Algebra I this year so he'll be ahead in High school.

Going to my neigbors book reading tonight. A year ago, my colleagues will remember, I was going to the hospital to take care of her and her husband after they were in a terrible car accident. She was married to the famous photographer Walker Evans at one time and has written a memoir on that time period which is just coming out.

So now that you are all caught up with my ever exciting (yeah right) life..you can all get on with yours...by the way...why hasn't Dominick Deirdre Dunne filled us in on Britneys mother of the year awards? Go Sox!! Yeah Barboza baseball rocks!!!

Big games, big planes, big news, big plans...

2007-09-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

Thats right everthing is BIG! Remember that Red sox game my hubbie went to the other night? Tickets courtesy of Marvin Windows or something...he called Tyler and I to say he was sitting in the second row thats row TWO, between Home plate and the Red sox dugout! Ummm I think those are the king of Saudi Arabia's seats or Ben Afflecks or something. John Henry...Red sox owner...3 seats away! I mean really!! Needless to say we had a great time watching Don watching the Red Sox.

Of course I didn't think I could really top that but I did call him from under the belly of a KC135 R refueling plane yesterday AFTER I sat in the pilots seat, AND sat in the boom controllers berth where he refuels the F16 fighters etc and saw the navigators desk (like where his father sat on his missions). The ARC had an inservice on the air base in Bangor yesterday and for a special treat we got this tour!

The big news came on the way to Bangor when my cell phone said I had a text message..could only be from the text message queen...Caroline who said "thought you might want to know I just got cast as the lead in the Fantastiks!" WHoooHOoo! We are going next weekend to see her in a production on the Mainstage for the dept. But I will definitely be going to this one too!

Big plans...well that would be the weekend! Oktoberfest..tommorow...and of course I do not feel ready for the desecending masses for revelers but its going to happen whether I am or not..picking up the big tent and sausage after work....Proust!!!

Zee Spaten has landed....

2007-09-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

For all of you who really don't care...my german beer arrived in the warehouse and is going to be in the place of honor for the 6th annual Oktoberfest. Its a pretty tough thing to have an Oktoberfest without the beer! Now I have to get the glasses down from the attic and all the other paraphanilia and get moving. Won't be able to put up the tent Friday night I think its going to rain, but there are enough people around Saturday to get it up. I have to pick up stuff after work tommorow in Bangor and then the tent and sausage on Friday. Still have my costume to adjust too. Yep last minute as always on that. Everyone wants to borrow stuff so I keep doing that instead of fixing my own outfit. Yes, people get dressed up for this shindig!! In lederhosen and dirndls and all other matter of Alpine and German attire. We have had several years of cross dressers too! couples where the guy is in the dirndl and the girl is in the lederhosen! Its all part of the fun. Then there was the year I had to wear the 40 lb polish dress that someone brought with them from California and insisted on me wearing because she could no longer fit into it! Well the dress and I were not always in the same room at the same time!
It was huge and Heavy!! Someone else got that dress this year! Besides I can't hostess in that thing!

So thats where my heads at this week....Don went to Boston today..Fenway to be exact. Something about business and the Redsox...yeah whatever! Marvin Window guy took him or something. First to some catered affair at the park then a 5pm game! That means I will get more done tonight at home though!! Sox are ahead again and definitely in the playoffs there goes and semblence of a calm october!

Fun and Games..

2007-09-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

So I read the sports page today after being a little oblivious since this past weekend, seems the Bosox have lost like 4 in a row so now the lead is 1 1/2 games...pathetic...but so predictable. Honestly, all those people who sat there and said oh we have nothing to worry about...my god people..this is the Red Sox we are talking about! History is not on our side....EVER! To the announcer's and pundits who had them in the series in JULY for god's sake...its the Red Sox have you not learned anything in 87plus years! So.... there's my rave for the day!

In other fun and games, Ty is pulling out all the stops Soccer wise,. scored the only goal Tuesday night against the Bay School, aside from being told by the coach (after they were ahead 3-1 I might add) that his height was intimidating his little players!!! Puleeeeeeeeese! They(Bay school) won 5-1 because those "little" players are not afraid of anyone "except" Tyler on the field and have no problem running directly through a Sedgwick player. Last night Sedgwick beat Blue HIll for the first time, Tyler scored two of the 4 goals. Plus one that was taken away! A direct kick that was supposed to be an indirect kick. More soccer this weekend at MMA.

Had his 14 y/o check up, still 95-100 percentile for height, he was hoping for 6 feet, although not quite there yet. 5/11!!

Oktoberfest is coming up in a week..and my beer distributor called to say the Spaten had not showed up in the ware house yet..as a matter a fact it was "missing" this is not good..not good.
I usually have anywheres from 40-60 people. The sausage comes in next week from New York, and I have a new (to me) outfit that I have to take in a little..definitely have some work to do..
I keep putting this whole event out of my mind and forgetting we moved it up a week...denial on this one folks....wait til next week then panic will set in.

Okay back to work...its too nice out but back to work anyways....ARC girl

Since I've accomplished nothing so far today...

2007-09-17T10:42:00.001-07:00

I might as well make an attempt to stay off the bad blogger list Ginny has. I am certainly not getting alot of work done. I am not sure why but I can't stay on task for anything today. Perhaps because the plans for the day were totally scrapped and I had to start all over. Not a good thing. This kept me shuffling papers and phone calls and dates all morning..then it was lunch time..now not wanting to continue shuffling I find alternatives to work..not a good thing.

Soooo lets see whats up. I had a rotten cold all weekend thanks to my son. This definitely kept productivity down, but I did scrap book a few pages after cleaning out that closet the weekend before. Caroline will be happy. Then Ty wanted to see the MDI Ellsworth soccer game, which was somewhat wet and cold. And they ended in a tie. Kim and Kyle went with us and this obnoxious woman kept yelling go GrrEEEEEnn (emphasis on the "E") next to us. Kim wanted to ask her what she yelled at home games...go whIIIIIte! Worst thing about it was she looked familiar and we searched the MDI roster to figure out who she might be but couldn't come up with anyone. I still think we probably know her. Unfortunately!
Then Kim wanted us to go with her and Mom to dinner...You owe me Kimmie! Not too painful, the Red Sox were on and everyone paid attention to the game.
Caroline in her infinite blonde wisdom called her father at 11:30 Sat night to tell him they had won...she of course had just found out. Her father was sound asleep! Game started at 4!

Don't remember much else from Sat/Sun my head was basically fogged up all weekend. Ty didn't go with me to the installation of the new Priest...said he would rather commune with his skateboard. Someone asked me to go home and ask him what the sermon was about! I did and he actually didnt miss a beat and said "ollies". Smarta..!

Lots of soccer this week, two games and then a tourney on Sat. at Maine Maritime Academy.
Hope it stays sunny and at least somewhat warm! Go bluuuuuuuuuue!

Since I

2007-09-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

Down Memory lane...

2007-09-14T07:57:00.000-07:00

Doing shelter surveys...really! They were all at my old schools! Yesterday I went over to MDI and visited 3 schools starting with the High School and redid the shelter surveys. I saw several people I did not expect to and saw alot of changed buildings! The high school looked the same as the last time I saw it....I spent a fortnight there one weekend when Caroline directed the one acts for Ellsworth and I chaperoned. Although they redid the ceiling and windows , floors etc in the gym this summer and have not exactly reopened it yet...it looked huge..only because they took out that low ceiling. Funniest thing though was running into a guy who I grew up with and is on the maintenance staff...his brother is head maintenance. Butch and Richard Bracy. When I was a wimpy little girl..Richard terrorized me! I was petrified of him and I told him so yesterday..he just hung his head and told me my brother Chris told him the same thing. His brother Butch was disgusted!! Told me he would slap him up side the head later!

Then off to Bar Harbor and the Emerson school where the Maintence guy was one of our hero's last year at Hero's Breakfast for pullling a guy out of a burning car. I went to High school with him and his brother. We went into the gym and the gym teacher was sitting lecturing the kids and I asked if he knew the size of the space and he said of course...I realized (and had forgotten he taught here) that it was my neigbor growing up..Dave Renault. I almost asked the kids if they all knew CPR ...he probably taught all their parents!!
That school had changed alot and is well prepared if we need it.

Then I played tourist bought a sandwich and sat at the Harbor for lunch. This is the "older people tourist season" which can be amusing. I watched one guy take pictures with his digital camera which was on an extension cord strapped to his belt. Interesting. Of course they were all bundled up like it was 25 degrees out or something. It was about 68 by the water and sunny.

Then off to Northeast Harbor, where we had already done a survey but on the old form so I needed more info. Well this building was my old elementary school. It is only reconizable from the outside!!! It has been completely redone inside except the gym. Unfortunately they took out alot of showers. Down to one in each locker room.
So MDI is just about covered. Pemetic is the only one left. I hopefully will get my volunteer John to do that one.

This weekend is already too busy, Ty wants to go to a soccer game, then the company picnic was moved to Sunday which is the installation of the new priest at St Francis. Same time. Hmmm
maybe I clone Don...I am reading the Time Travelers Wife..maybe he could become the time traveler...only that guy shows up naked everywhere! Good book though.
Have a good weekend.

Yearly reflections

2007-09-11T10:35:00.000-07:00

Knowing how much you all love a good laugh click on Good Deeds on my list of friendly blogger friends and check out my Sib#2 and her latest obsession with celeb gossip and the queen of means dog "Trouble", the picture is worth the extra minute of your time! Oh to have 12 million to just leave my cat!! Just think Lynn you wouldn't have to get up to nurse those kittens, the
"wet nurse could do it"!! "Only the little people work and pay taxes according to Leona..

I, myself, will just have to be satisfied with "doing good for the American Public," we don't really get paid for doing good for the American public, but then every career I have ever taken up has not paid alot until I basically left it. Nursing became much more lucrative, at least hospital nursing, after I decided I needed to be a "shopgirl". Shop girl paid nothing....this job pays next to nothing, but I don't have to think about it 24/7 at least not all the time anyways. So I have been working for the ARC a ;year and of course as you can tell by this blog evaluating whether I should be here or not. But as I told Don the other night I could be doing something sooooo boring for alot more money and that would kill me. My work is gratifying and exciting for the most part. I love the greater mission and organization as a whole. The people I work with are wonderful and dedicated or they wouldn't be here either. As always I wish I could fix everything and I can't.
So I guess I am in the right place.

That being said I should go back to work and do some shelter surveys, make some phone calls and write a few fire dept letters. Oh life is busy when you have a world to save....
ARC girl

Seriously!!

2007-09-05T08:20:00.000-07:00

I just saw a blog named "couture cupcakes" on the sign in page for blogger! Seriously! Makes you almost want to go to it and find out what exactly that person is writing about!! Certainly not the mundane things I have to say. Like the fact that I basically have one eye today thanks to some allergic reaction to some unknown entity last night that not only made my eye itch and swell and water it basically shut it right up. It hasnt looked this bad since I was a little kid. I took two benadryl with almost no relief, tried to sew, tried to read a magazine, all were fruitless, so I finnally went to sleep thanks to the benadryl and woke up thinking it might look better...NOT. Spent the morning trying to reduce the swelling so I could come to work. No one better come in this office today, I am not that presentable.

In other serious topics, my sib #2 who is always obsessed with some cause celeb has selected the Queen of Mean Leona Helmsleys will, which left 12 Milllion to her "dog" to be kept in the lap of luxury for the rest of its life...well todays paper said the guardian, apparently a relative didn't want anything to do with the dog..so poor fido and its 12 mil. will have to be looked after by foster parents or something....all of this was so her nasty grandchildren couldnt have the money I guess. Now who gets the money when the dog dies I wonder??

These important topics are things you ponder when you have shelter surveys to enter into the computer, and tommorow you have to find MEMA in Augusta for a meeting. Anything to put off the obvious and pressing. Seriously!!

September Beginnings and Goodbyes..

2007-09-04T11:01:00.001-07:00

Its that time of year..I woke up this morning and everyone was gone! Tyler was the last to leave the house at 7am for the first day of eighth grade. His best friend Henry Sullivan leaves today for Prep School at Milton Academy. They have known each other since daycare when Tyler could hardly talk but Henry was his idol and buddy from day one. Henry became an eagle scout this weekend, a huge achievement for a 14 yearold and then had a goodbye barbeque at Wooden Boat. Ty went with Aunt Kathie who was watching him while we were in DC. Henry showed up at the house this morning before Ty caught the bus, to say a final goodbye at 6:45!!
Dad's Paul and Don, stayed in the other room and I of course did not even hear the conversation but it was a heartbreaker for sure!

Thursday we drove off with Caroline to DC, stopping in Hartford for an overnight, to break up the drive. She was smiling the entire way!! We stayed in a town house on Capital Hill for the weekend that belonged to some friends who are in Maine for three weeks. It was a great location and since everyone is out of DC on the weekend it was easy to get around with our own vehicle. Friday night we walked up a block and ate at an outdoor German cafe. Saturday morning we moved her in. The dorm is an old apartment building with efficiency units that they are making into quads!! The girls have their own bath and kitchen and then basically one big room, sort of divided into two but its really just one. Three of them are on lofts or upper bunks, it will be "close" for the year!! Took us all day to get them settled. Seemed like they needed more than when it was just a single...went to a Target in Arlington along with every other college student and parent within 20 miles..GW, George Mason, VT, Georgetown, AU etc...there wasnt a single hangar or toilet bowl brush in the place!!

Caroline is extremely happy to be back in the city, even though its not the dorm of her dreams.
She starts rehearsals immediately for a Main Stage production she is in the first and second weekend of October. She had a great summer in Maine though, lots of friends and new friends,
and good times. We will miss her.

So we shall see what the new school year brings always an exciting time...now its back to work for me.

Time off, time yet??????????????????????????

2007-08-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hmmm, I am not sure I can wait. The ARC and its bureaucracy is bugging me a little more than usual today. I have had a volunteer who was assigned to leave yesterday and she has spent most of the night and part of this morning on the phone with the venerable ARC travel agency. I use all of those terms lightly!! She actually sat on the phone here for 50 minutes to find out if they had her confirmed and no one picked up...when someone finally did they said they had been sitting at their desk for a half an hour with no phone calls.....Huh?? What are we going to do if we have to deploy hundreds of people not just two or three? All 3 that are going to Minnesota have had nothing but issues. Last deployment was no different. People had such an issue but they blamed it on the 4th of July..well what is the problem now?

Meanwhile I keep doing busy work like shelter surveys,...and thats another bureaucracy, but its getting done...s-l-o-w-l-y. Health status reports are basically done except people the "system" archived or lost or whatever!! You see, I have to wonder if the right hand of the ARC knows what the left hand is doing sometimes. I think if it wasn't for the individuals and the small chapters the real work would not get done. So there's my soap box for the day.

Caroline missed an appointment that she had for two months...I kept reminding her for days to call and check on it...GRRRRRRR. She needed that appointment before returning to school. I had to beg for another time for next week. NOt at great start to my day either.

So is there anything else I can complain about...nope I guess thats it. Still have a headache. I thi nk the low pressure system is doing that...not giving blood like I thought. So you can see I do need some time off, I am cranky. Just found out my volunteer is approved to go..Hello.. its 2pm and her flight is at 5:30!!!! She is a little P--sed off at the whole system..can't blame her there!
I would be frantic by now. Airlines in some citys expect ;you to be there an hour and 1/2 ahead.
Honestly what does the Red Cross think??

Only one more hour here....I can make it!! ON call though...having dinner at a friends tonight have to take the beeper. Well enough of my rambling..ARC soon to be on VAcation GIrl signing off.

The phone....ANSWER the phone!!!!!

2007-08-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

What is wrong with this picture...I go to work, I give a pint of O+, come home deal with dinner etc and decide to go to bed around 9 to read and sleep. I shut my bedroom door because we have a tv room with computer upstairs that the kids use as well as tv downstairs. Ten o clock I am just about asleep and the phone rings...there is one in the TV/computer room, one downstairs and one in our bedroom. Does anyone who is supposedly concious answer it??? NOOOOOOOOOO! I get out of bed and answer the one in my room as the answering machine kicks in...its some guy from NY that wants to talk to Caroline (the next boyfriend probably).
I have to leave my room and go tell her the phone is for her...now the household is all still up..two tvs are on three people are floating through this lovely, all lit up home...I mean really!!! So I hand her the phone from my room and she happily goes off to talk to "mr. next boyfriend."

Story is not over...she does not put phone back in my room. She keeps it in her room. At 1:00am I awake to the answering machine going off in my bedroom telling someone that we are not available. I fly out of bed..I am on call this week for ARC..and run downstairs because I cant find a phone, check my beeper and call the answering service. It was not them. Now if someone calls in the middle of the night something is usually wrong. Well I go back up stairs and tell Don who by now is somewhat awake, and he says oh you can check caller ID on the phone in the TV/Computer room...so I go to get that phone...when diva daughter comes down the hall holding my bedroom phone...She says "it was in my room" apparently even when a phone rings in her own bedroom she can't answer it!!!!!!!!!! After that my husband takes the portable and figures out that someone "private name private number" called us. Greaaaat. I lay there awakened for the second time on one night..wondering how do these people I live with do this?

So I have a little headache today...now its either lack of sleep or the fact that I had wine after giving blood..or both...take your pick I really don't care. I just want it to go away.
My little ERV is not back..I hope it comes soon, I want to know just what they think they need to do to make it road worthy.

Other than that things are just peachy. Weather is nice a little too cool for me. Not ready for summer to end yet. A few hot days yet would be nice. I have had a sweater everyday this week. Have some days off next week YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not really vacation but earned time. At least some of it, probably some without pay I have to add up what I have. So thats all from where I sit..disaster queen signing off.

He stood me up...!

2007-08-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

Yep spent the day at home on Saturday waiting to get called to go to the office to deploy people to Hurricane central...no calls no emails no nothing. Well. I was not impressed..checked my email from office..nothing...Hillary said she did the same...guess they just didn't need PineTree assistance. So Sunday Caroline and I went off to Bangor..to heck with Dean I was done waiting around for him!

Friday night I went over to Center Harbor had dinner with some summer people then went to the Yacht club where the annual square dance was happening...that was a sweaty good time..had all I could do to keep my sandals on my feet and follow the directions. Told Don he should not miss that one next year..even for his family. I guess they played golf so I didnt miss anything. Ty saw Olivia....whatever a 14 yr old date is..at Starbucks.

Caroline who had hoped I would be gone had some friends over Saturday night ..I went upstairs and watched a movie..they stayed down stairs and and I heard the blender going, as well as the counter covered with beer..No surprise there. I wasn't going to spoil the evening and everyone was from the neigborhood except Lucy. They are all leaving soon..Caroline is one of the last ones to go. She can not wait to get back to DC..I remember how that felt at the end of the summer..I don't blame her.

Quiet week so far..lots of paperwork getting done though. Tommorow I will sweet talk the Legion into a shelter agreement. Hopefully. That will take care of Ellsworth in a small crisis if we get that squared away. John took the little ERV to get the thing looked at for tires and other
necessities to get it road worthy..they are keeping it overnight..and he will return it in the am.
They did a double take on it..it has "mongrel" tires (tires that have to be special ordered they don't make that size any more!) and who knows what else. John said its old enough to carry antique car plates. Ha Ha. Oh well at least he knows someone in the business and we may get a nice deal out of this.
ARC girl going home.

New Man in my life

2007-08-17T09:40:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Dean...thats right. He is in our service area believe it or not...the Northeast covers the US virgin Islands and Puerto Rico because you can't give them to the southern States they have enough to worry about! So he is swirling around the Caribbean and we have to have people ready to go so I am cancelling a trip to Portland this weekend, much to my daughters dismay,.,she was hoping for the house to her self and probably 20 of her closest friends!! Don and Ty will go to a family gathering in Portland.

Finished up Grant writing last night with an oral presentation and the Prof had emailed my final paper back to me before the class started..A-! I guess that was ok. Three down one to go.

I don't know whats wrong with this blog site but the other day I blogged and you have to hit my library of blogs to get it it doesnt automatically come up. Weird. Hope this one posts.

So I really don't have much else to report..hopefully everyone has a good weekend my plans are in the wind...get it?? Ha ha. ARC girl

The sliiiiide into home....

2007-08-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

That's what August feels like right now. Or how to cram the rest of summer into the next 3 weeks. I am not sure I have had much of a summer with this grant writing class, painting and fixing up the apartment, and work. Have to take Caroline back starting on the 30th so maybe a few days off that week. The rest of course will be spent driving. The "labor day weekend" of college parents!

Saturday I finished getting the apartment ready for Sharon, then we took 3 teenage boys minature golfing and to dinner in Bar Harbor. Caroline met us over there. Tyler Henry and Ian have known each other soo long its comical. They were sitting in the car and Henry said remember when we all went up to Ty's camp in this van? "Those were the good ole days" I cracked up...it was two summers ago and they are only 14 and 15! Ian said to me...Gretchen, you talk like it was yesterday! Good God!

My class ends this week but I have to get my final proposal done..its almost there. I am definitely not taking one next semester...I am so sick of writing. I want to do something fun..like sew or knit this fall..no papers.

Sunday was spent in Rockland at the Maine Boats Homes and Harbors show. It was warm but fun. Lots of old Hinckley people there..a 40 and a 29 for picnic boats. Brooklin boat was a no show for some reason...they were supposed to have the new 50 daysailer. Walked to the end of the docks there was an old OC ocean cruising by Hank Hinckley...basically a B-40 without the talaria on the transom. It was for sale, in great shape hull number one. (1979) If only I had more money than time...or whatever the saying is, because she was a steal. Not too many sailboats on my wish list but she would do just fine. The Homes part of the show was well done, and the exhibitors were of high quality. Getting the booth down and out of there was the hard part.

So back to work, or at least holding down this fort...ARC Girl

Attitude adjustment day...

2007-08-10T08:18:00.000-07:00

I would say I definitely need one. The week of relatives is over and that is probably a good thing. My mother certainly made a mess of it all. Why she insisted on having two sets of guests at the same time...my sister and her family and her aunt(whom she has competed with all her life) and daughter I will never know. All it did is create chaos. I spent no quality time with anyone, especially my sister and her family. Oh well, mommie dearest definitely knows how to create a "fire" out of a small breeze. Soooooo.....onto a nice weekend I hope.

Ty turns 14 tommorow. He looks 16 at times...6feet tall blonde and quite cute..but still Mom's boy. We will probably take him and a friend minature golfing and dinner on the Island. His best friend Henry is going to Milton Academy this year so this may be their last outing.

Sunday is our day at the Maine Boats Harbors and Homes show. Hewes Co. has a booth and we..Don..has a 4hour shift. He set up the booth yesterday and then said something about going back down today to check on it. Its their first time and I think they feel a little under prepared.
When he called to get a spot in the show he ended up getting John Hanson the owner/editor on the phone who said..O'Grady...why do I know you?? Don said Hinckley? Brooklin Boat? John said no..You're Gretchen's husband..Gretchen that owned the Sedgwick Store!! Not bad when the ex VP of Finance for Hinckley Yachts is remembered for His wifes business in the boating world!!
Yah!!!! Guess we know who rocks!

Had dinner with the "Hams" last night. The ham radio club put up an antenna on the ARC building and had a picnic on the front lawn and their monthly meeting in the office last night.
They are over all a pretty nice bunch. Everett, my fave. was not there, he and I have quite the relationship now that Evan and Caroline are both going to be at GW together. He loves to come in and harass me. He said those guys need to do some work with out him "holdin their hands all the time" so he was going north where he would have one foot in Aroostook county one in Washington county and he could see across to Canada. I am SURE he will be in the minute he gets back to check out what they did.

Have a good weekend all..I plan to. Adjustments will be made!!

Relativity

2007-08-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

No such thing in my family! But they are all here. The past two evenings 14 and 13 people respectively have eaten dinner at my house. Now I have not cooked the food per se...but I have set up, cleaned up, and generally been the hostess with the mostess. I was even told that on Tuesday evening when I got home from a day of 1. taking child to Castine (opposite direction of work) for trombone, 2. Work. 3. Grad. class in grant writing, that I would come home to everything all done...yeah right! My husband decided not to come home early because no one had made it back from Bar Harbor so when I arrived...nothing! Had been set up. 13 people for dinner! The ribs and salads were done, mostly but I guess he thinks that everything else happens automatically, further someone has to clean up the mess!! So tonight the dinner is not at my house..yeah!! BUT I can't go...because its Lobster! I can not be around an enclosed space where it is cooked, and I of course can not eat it or touch it. So the one night I don't have to do the entertaining....I can't go. Its all RELATIVE!!!

I won't even get into the fact that my mother and her "same age" aunt..Her fathers sister, Mix like oil and water and try to play each other..its been more than interesting to watch. But certainly doesn't help my stress level. Meanwhile my husband keeps doing a disappearing act with my brother in law! Being antisocial right now is not what I need him to do!!!! So thats my home life right now....rather not be there thank you!!

On the other hand...for some reason the store real estate seems to be heating up in a big way. Some one came and looked Monday and indicated a very serious interest in a business/live above arrangement. He hopes to come back with a proposal in a week. Meanwhile the next day, a couple from DC who also happen to work at GWU, and looked at the property last year were back yesterday taking pictures and scheduled a formal look "again" for Friday at 1pm.
WE could definitely use some change in direction on that front!!!

So I am enjoying the peace and quiet of the ARC office, no relatives, husband children or dishes other than what I dirty!!! I may just stay here! ARC girl.

Better rename that last one..

2007-08-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

Freaky Friday. Thought it was going to be an easy day. Left the office with Ty to take the car up to Darlings to have the oil changed and some noise that D on thought was transmission looked at. My sister picked us up as Tyler was staying with Kyle for the weekend and so I had something to do while waiting for the car. They said the car would be done by after lunch so I told Kimmie I would take her out to lunch. We dropped the boys off and decided to hit Mardens. They had a huge shipment of soccer stuff come in and Kim wanted to get something for Ty's birthday. So we played around in there and when we got back in her car I realized my cell dropped out of my bag. We headed back in and she shut the car door then came an "unsavory" word, and I realized we were locked out of her car! We hung out in the "lovely lobby" of Mardens while we waited in the 95 degree heat for the tow truck. I thought we should start doing a survey to pass the time..she was not amused. Too hot.

Finnally got out of there and went to Applebees for salad, just as we were finishing up my phone rings..apparently they were monitoring a tornado in the county at the Bangor office. Joyce was in her basement with her mother..Ok..so I finish up and head to the office. We watch the radar for the rest of the afternoon and when it finnally seems to slow down Pat and I close the doors and head home. I'm driving down a packed route 1A there is bumper to bumper traffic and the Emergency alert system keeps going off warning of more and more storms now heading back into Maine...all of a sudden this moving truck pulls out of a side street and tries to cross traffic in front of the van that is in front of me. I am laying on my horn. The van is literally on two wheels
curving out around this idiot. I really don't know how there was not a multi car collision there.
The van pulls off to the side of the road and the driver starts running back toward the moving truck...Probably to rip his head off.

About 10pm the storms finnally hit the coast...I don't think I have seen that much lightening in a very long time. One hit right by the store..I honestly thought it hit it. Don watched as it moved off to Deer Isle. I just tried to go to sleep. It was quite the show.

The rest of the weekend was fairly quiet. Caroline and I drove to Northeast Harbor Saturday to look around, check out the old homestead. We had a good time.

Lots of family coming up this week..could be a long one. My mother is right on ten! Need to stay out of the kitchen! Or there will be a disaster. ARC girl

Freelance Friday

2007-08-03T05:52:00.000-07:00

Friday, Friday...just love that day... wish I could actually sing...Concert last night was good. It was wonderful to see the college kids, especially, come back and perform. Some had changed so much, some were just the same only older! They were mostly of my daughters era so I know their personal quirks and they were there! Shane particularly did not disappoint as he talked to himself, and the audience on stage, charming us with his total lack of togetherness, utter brillance and yet still can't remember the words to a song if he has a solo! Caroline's voice is amazingly big now, and she has such a great presence. She came out for her second number and said "I think I am going to get comfortable" and kicked her shoes off, so then her accompanist kicked "her" shoes off and played the piano barefoot. We made around 800.00 I was hoping for 1000.00 but it was good for the first time. Everyone enjoyed themselves.

This weekend is the ERR Eggemoggin Reach Regatta..first time in awhile Don has not sailed in at least one leg of it. Don't know if we will see it from the water this year or not.
Lots of family coming up next week..
My mother is all a tither...not exactly a good thing. I basically lose all control over my life, or
just "go with the flow" as they say. Wine usually works when she gets that way ... that and selective hearing...I'm pretty good at that with her! So if you don't hear from me its because any thoughts I have can't be put in print form!

C'est La vie, Gretchen
P.S. My son almost died when he saw what I drove from Bangor this week!

N-ERV-ous driver ahead!!

2007-08-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

So did anyone see that cute little ARC vehicle driving down route 1a today from Bangor to Ellsworth going about 40-45 max?? With a nervous blonde at the wheel?? That was the mini-ERV as they call it..although I think it may just be advertising and storage for Ellsworth..I am not sure it is inspectable after driving it. The steering mechanism leaves a little to be desired.
I think its about 1960's vintage it has those "fly" windows my mother used to love in her station wagons. It wouldn't open though! I didn't have to use the AAA card so things could have been a lot worse and I stack it up to one more ARC adventure. Another notch to my belt!! Now if we could only straighten out the equipment in and out of here as easily!!

I've done two radio spots for the concert on Thursday..I wasn't really planning on all this public
publicity with my name attached but if we fill the bank account with scholarship money I will be happy. I went to rehearsal last night and heard some of the kids who have come back to sing and they sound so good. Caroline has so much volume now..she was not even near a mike at one point and she was just "filling" the auditorium with her voice. My voice on the other hand still sounds scratchy and miserable..at least what I heard on the radio!

So thats my excitement for the day..oh except for a morning hurricane conference where we learned how to "prepare" ...we are the Red Cross for heavens sake, we wrote the book!!
Aurevoir..ARC girl

Dog Days..

2007-07-31T12:03:00.000-07:00

I am not a dog person so I can certainly see why they call these "dog days"! Now I do like the warm weather but its not conducive to work. I do not have AC and I work in an airplane hanger. The occasional breeze does float thru and there is a fan but you can't turn it on yourself or all your papers go flying so what is the point? I did finish a couple of things today so I can feel somewhat accomplished. I hate it when I get nothing done. Last night I even wrote most of my grant concept paper that is due on Tuesday so I will stay and type that later and email it off. Get it out of my hair..one more paper and that class is done. The prof. wrote me an email the other day to point out I had spelled his name wrong in an email in which I sent an assignment.
Now I might add his name is Christos Gianopoulos. I got one letter wrong I added a u onto the o at the end. Gianopoulous. Well he pointed out that in "Grant writing" that would be a big no no.
So probably 10 points off that paper! Ugh.

Have to go down to the radio station and record something about the Scholarship concert. That should be interesting. I told the station guy to write it up what he wants..hopefully I don't sound foolish. I plan on going to rehearsal tonight to see if anything else needs to be done before Thursdays concert. Caroline and Matt are rehearsing tonight.

So lets see what else..oh yeah on Saturday when it was really foggy I cut out some curtains, valances from some Laura Ashley chintz that I have had for 2 years and intending to use and by Sunday I had them all done! Bought some sheers at Wally world (my favorite store, not) for 4.88 a piece and now I have designer windows. Bought the chintz at a yard sale so these windows cost me next to nothing. In the meantime I spotted some great fabric in Mardens that was a little higher than usual (price) but I took a sample home and then bought some today to cover the foot stool and pillows in living room..a great coral and yell0w plaid that will go with all the other furniture. Seems like I am always tweaking that house...I love fabric, so I cant help it and then its an old house so something always has to be done anyways.

Well stay cool everyone..have an ice tea in the shade for me. ARC girl

There ARE no red hot dogs on rte one!!

2007-07-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

ok so I drive to Rockland to meet with Disaster Mental Health people like a good litttle Emergency services nurse! one word..Disaster! Keynote speaker..no show. Of coourse somehow I know he is not coming but head of meeting does not.. she is P_ssed. But first I arrive at ARC office and she is supposed to show up any minute to pick up her stuff. Never shows so I leave for meeting and when I pull into parking lot she tries to send me back to office I just left for HER stuff. Luckily Susan said she would bring at 11:00. Meeting is starting in ten minutes. I won't go into the gory details here. Also had to give "someone" in the bangor office my minute by minute location incase there was in imminent disaster that had to be dealt with as he was the only one in the office.

So left Rockland around 12 to head back to get Ty off to sailing camp out. Stopped at Market Basket to get half a sandwich and remembered exactly why I am no longer the proprietor of a gourmet food business in Maine in the summer. There were 100 people all wanting something on bread that was not made that day! Got back in the car and called Don to tell him that story and he said he was sitting on some gorgeous stone patio on Isleford..Little Cranberry Island, at a house they are going to redo (the company is going to redo..not him)..then he was "boating over to Isle au Haut and Stonington to check on other Hewes Co. projects..tough day. About that time I hit a wall of traffic. Route one last friday in July!

Now I still had not picked up the delicacys for the sailing overnight including the pop tarts and the red hot dogs. I kept driving and trying to call my kids to get them to do it. Unfortunatley they were behind schedule and Carolines phone was either off or out of range..so I did not get them in time to stop at store. So I decided my best bet was a small store along the way quick in and out instead of a grocery store that would require lines aisles and waiting...little did I know that no one would have hot dogs let alone red ones!! I tried Searsport Irving...now Maritime farms..nope..Then two stores in Bucksport all these places have the word "market" or grocery, on their sign and they have beer and chips. I finnally pulled off at the Orland Market and hit the
jackpot..guy says yeah we have hot dogs..how many...wow I can even buy singles...like this place. Are they red? No way...I don't sell what I don't eat...so I buy 3 regular color hot dogs and hope he can trade for them.

Get home throw stuff in car and fly to yacht club..a couple of parents look at me and say you look stressed about this trip or something..I say no I just got off Rte I. for the second day in a row..they took me sailing..in my skirt and sandals! I threw those off and just climbed in the boat. What the heck! It was a TownClass..always wanted to sail one of those...sort of like Herreshoff 12 1/2 They are an old class out of Marble head. Well I know I don't want one..too tippy, no keel just a centerboard and really a little finicky. But it definitely blew the road dust out of my head! WE watched the kids take off in three beetle cats for Hog Island for the night.

Woke up this morning and it was completely fogged in, thought they might all get towed back by the whalers they took out. But Ty said they all sailed back..He had one of the boats the whole way back and said it was a great sail. All of them no worse for the wear..traded a hot dog for a red one too! He also had a sausage in his bag. Guess they didn't sleep much but that is the fun of it all.

So I cut up some fabric for curtains today..I am sort of working on them..we"ll see.
By the way we did NOT have red hot dogs for dinner last night! Have a good weekend all. G.

Stop complaining people....

2007-07-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Ok I drove to Machias this afternoon..its hot today 90 something..almost a two hour drive plus the State -O- Maine in its infinite wisdom is using some of those road dollars we vote on every year to improve the roads...route 1 in the middle of July...brilliant!! I say we have a referendum on the dates for road improvements. The wait was exactly 1/2 a cd and several pages of the
Ellsworth American Newspaper! Kid you not. ONe lane. So I go to the meeting...no meeting.
No one can come...no one can inform anyone either...nice.

So I go back to the office to finish a Prospect list for grant writing class..don't ask. It took forever and I really thought "why am I doing this"??? I don't need this...my office does not have air conditioning but it does have several or should I say airplane hangar size wall windows. Toasty!

I come home and have to get Ty ready for a sailing overnight with the yacht club after soccer camp tommorow. So I call a parent whose kid went last year to ask about food and she is out..so I call another parent who is a nutrition nut...and she says..pack everything you would never give them at home! Soda chips hotdogs..hmmm (never? at home?) So I ask her about breakfast and she says more soda...
eewww..and something like glazed donut holes! OK ...So I say" do I put this in a cooler"...and she says "no! a cooler is definitely not cool" Huh?? "Paper bag" she says...I say "but how do they keep it all dry...she says "they don't care."..I say "my Diddy, (her nickname is Diddy) aren't we a little negative tonight...she says no "just realistic".. Ty told me to get pop-tarts and red hotdogs he should fit in just fine.
We are definitely not going to make Yacht club digest for most extravagant "kid cruise".

Tommorow is a trip in the other direction..Rockland for the morning. Disaster Mental Health people ..now that's an oxymoron..yep its hot and I am tired.
Hope they didn't find any projects for those big orange sleeper trucks (DOT) on the southern end of rte 1. I am not up for that tommorow. See ya..

Ps. Don says we are having red hot dogs for dinner tommorow just so we can say Tyler actually ate food that he gets at home on the trip...I don't do red hot dogs.

Wait its summer....

2007-07-26T05:36:00.000-07:00

Its Hot!! I am not complaining mind you and you can all thank Tyler for this weather as he has Bootin Eagles soccer camp 4 1/2 hours a day of soccer in Ellsworth..thats why its Hot! I don't mind I can actually wear sleeveless dresses and sandals to work instead of sweaters. That is what summer is supposed to be not this endless fog and rain and fiftys we have had. Hope it continues.

So work and life got in the way of blogging imagine that?! I actually wrote one the other day and lost it in the shuffle of the office. Kiddo's actually traveled by themselves to Portland and took in a rock concert and their mom did not have a coronary! I went sailing instead. That usually calms me down from just about anything! Don would kill to have a boat..me I like OPB's other peoples boats...he did not grow up with that yearly spring/fall load unload/ scrape varnish/engine problems/sail repairs/bad weather cant go out/yard bills/etc etc. Mr. Accountant who worries incessantly about money and has worked at not one but TWO big boat companies and he still wants one! go figure! Howard had the right idea with the "Drambuini"
inflate and deflate!!

So concert next week August 2 7pm EHS auditorium Caroline will be singing..I tried to put the picture that was in the paper in this blog but couldn't so go to Ellsworth American and click on Arts and Leisure to article about Ellsworth Alums give back. She and Matt are reprising Audrey and Seymour...REEEEAALLLY SEYMOUR!

All the disaster people left the state so if you are reading this and you are in my chapter and in Maine...well good luck to you..I am the czarina for a few days. Didn't leave here until after 4 yesterday and my day ends usually at 3 although I came in late...AFES and fire volunteers and Me and Pat handlling all the calls. Rains it pours. No one called last night so thats a good thing.
Machias for a meeting today and Rockland tommorow. Stay cool everyone. ARC girl

Stay very cool sib #2 who decided to go with Mumsy to Italy this fall!! She is ecstatic and its probably a very good thing you are going! You will have fun..mostly...just drink heavily! My friend Chris is great..the trip will be way above par!

"down back of Reny's"

2007-07-20T08:44:00.000-07:00

Its pouring...what else is new this summer?..and I went out to get the office mail, some flyer was jammed in the box so I pulled at it..I was not into standing out there too long, it was raining buckets...and when I pulled the hide-a-key flew out of the mailbox, opening up and landing in the grass below the deck! Nice! So I went back in to get on my rain coat and back out to search the lawn for the keys, and the two pieces to the hide a key box! So much for staying dry. I had thrown the mail on a table, not bothering to look at it. Well after drying out and making some calls and other business I found the mail, still wet and there was a letter addressed to American Red Cross "down back of Renys" Ellsworth Maine! Some guy from Deer Isle mind you! Inside was a self addressed stamped envelope back to him! Huh?? kept digging..found a cpr card with a note "wrong card..need first aid" short sweet and to the point! So in case you need to find me
you all now know where to look!!

It has not been a good week in the Ellsworth and Rockland offices..we have had nothing but "trouble" over the phone etc. I am not sure any of us have accomplished much. I know I have not. But I will keep trying!! Constant interruptions have been the issue here. Either phone or people coming in...yesterday afternoon one of the ham radio guys had to come in and vent.
That of course is always a treat! He is mad at the group because they have not gotten the tower up and hoped that the evening they planned now to do it would fit into "my schedule" and would not be too late a night for me because they knew I had to drive 30 miles! He was very worried about accomodating me! It was pretty cute! They are characters and I don't understand a thing they do..but I am sure when we really need them in a crisis I will be glad they are here.

So when is the sun going to shine again? My husband said he heard we can expect a nice weekend? I will believe it when I sees it! This is just making me crazy..60 degrees is not my idea of summer. Tommorow is the ST. Francis summer fair and for some reason neither Don or I are working at it. Probably should call someone to see what we can do..but then again maybe it would just be fun to attend. Don will have to deal with the money afterwards anyways.
Kiddo's are driving to Portland on Sunday for a rock concert..another reason to worry this weekend..yippee.

Well if the weather keeps up Ms. Barboza could make millions on her new raingear! I remember the summer I was going to make "Maine Bikinis" out of polar fleece and sell them in the store.
I'm feeling a little like that summer....wheres global warming when you need it??

Thats it from here.."down back Renys" ARC girl..have a good one!

Helllooo Federal....

2007-07-18T12:13:00.000-07:00

or is that FEMA that I actually need... or is it just a good stiff drink! ? So you wonder where Ive been huh? Well diva daughter had to go to NYC this weekend.. remember the 6:30 am flight. Yes well she was supposed to come back Monday night and she MISSED the plane. Thats right missed it. They paged her and paged the flight but she, who says she was "near" the gate did not hear that! But was listening for it. I might add this was the last flight out of Laguadia for the night to Maine. Alone in New York. Yep. I was a happy mom. Dad was happy too. She made it home yesterday, after a delay and we drove back up the coast. I had decided at the last minute to take yesterday off...good thing but was going to be back for my class..that did not happen.

I was hoping for a good day today in the office..NOT. Computer was unhappy this morning, some woman was extremely unhappy this morning, needed assistance "yesterday" ie: April, but forgot to ask for it" yesterday"!! Then basically non productive, confusing and just plain
"one of those days" you know 36 of something when someone needs 37...

I am going home..perhaps tommorow will be better.

Happy faces..

2007-07-13T07:32:00.000-07:00

oooh I went home last night and the clouds had all but dissipated. Yeah! I stopped at Walmart, not my fav store by any means regardless of what Ginny and Lynn will tell you..especially the one in Ellsworth..and bought Ty a red shag rug and some pillows for his newly arranged and cleaned up room. He, with the expert help of his sister, whom he adores, had sorted thru alot of his stuff and only put back things he used or cared about at this point in his life. He is thrilled with how much more room he has and the fact that things are not on top of him. Tyler is like me in that he can only take so much clutter in his life and then it overwhelms him and I really think it was adding to his emotional state, of feeling out of control. Ok so mom feels better.

Caroline spent her 19th birthday with friends Wednesday night in Bar Harbor at Geddys pub.
Oh does that bring back memories of my summers past. Judging from some photos they all had a good time and she is really back with some friends she had neglected when she was going out with Brandon. Her friends kind of got lost in the shuffle of their relationship for whatever reason. I am taking her to Portland tonight where we will meet up with "other daughter" Aisha for dinner and then Care flies to NYC for the weekend to meet some friends from college. Her plane is at some god awful time in the am like 5:50 or 6am or something Ugh. I plan on just rolling out of bed and driving over to the airport...then coming back to Kathi's house and starting my morning.

So that is my weekend ahead..of course I will have to drive back to Portland Monday night after work and pick her up and drive home Tuesday morning. I am not sure what I get out of this.
I think I need to borrow that new Italian leather bag she brought back from Venice...Hmmmm
Either that or she needs to get me a real nice knock off from a street vendor in NYC what do you all think??????
ARC MOM!

The opposite side of the fence...

2007-07-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

There's the girl..the one who turned 19 yesterday and then there's the boy..the one who will turn 14 next month. For those who can't add that is a 13 yearold! Who is 6 feet tall, very intelligent, very sensitive and on a hormone seige! I think there is a permanent thunder cloud over his head lately. Last night it poured! Don't let anyone tell you boys are easy... that is only because they never talk! Eventually it all has to boil over. Unfortunately they don't understand that its ok to feel bad sometimes, to cry or be angry or hurt. NO matter what kind of parent you are.

Trying to make his world a little better, after he left for soccer today I tore apart his room, he has the smallest in the house and set to rearranging it for more space. Of course I decided to do this two hours before coming to work..you should have seen me moving all that furniture in that space..it was comical. I did it though and came up with a good arrangement and took some pieces out and substituted some shelving from elsewhere so I think he will be pleased. Then I called Care at work to have her help him re put things on shelves etc. And maybe not put so much back in there. I will go to Walmart after class to day to see if there isnt anything to add to the mix. When I called home to see if he liked it he said yeah but he had had a bad day at soccer...can't win for losing I guess. I hope its a stage because he sure is not a happy camper right now and he even admits he doesn't really know why.

Well no one said being a mom was easy..although I suppose being a 13 year old right now isn't too easy either.

Happy Birthday Caroline

2007-07-11T18:06:00.000-07:00

19 years ago today, after 5 years of infertility, two surgeries, one miscarriage, and 2 and 1/2 days of on and off labor a beautiful little girl came into the world with a blank slate! Her name had years before been picked out..Caroline Erin. She started to fill that blank slate from day one..jaundice! Then there was colic, then as she got older severe asthma, not a healthy little one. But a spit fire. She never stopped, she talked, she danced, she sang and she laughed. She had a million and one ear infections and probably ended up with some of her language learning issues from that as well as dyslexia! But still she strove on. Nothing stopped her. If someone told her she couldn't do it, well then she did! She worked hard to learn to read and write, and struggled with math, but could she sing and entertain. Soon she grew older, and started to really perform on real stages, her voice soaring with each new instructor, or director. She strived for perfection in her studies working to maintain grade point averages that we really never thought were possible considering her early difficulties. She would not let anything stop her..the slate started to fill with accomplishments and honors, and before we knew it she was off to college. A school had recognized her gifts and said "come study here...that slate is now fillling with new and exciting accomplishments and adventures..it is only 19 years full, not anywhere near my 47 or Don's 50 but those 19 years have given me more joy than I could ever imagine and I can not wait to see what she does with the rest of that empty slate. Happy Birthday Care. Love Mom

Summer where are you???

2007-07-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

Come on...Its 61 and raining again....it has rained at least once a day since July 4th and the high has not gotten above 68 or 70 for days and days. I need heat. I need sunshine, I need to wear my shorts and sandals. No wonder I can't stop coughing and wheezing. My sis wants to cheer me up with Pina coladas but who wants them when its cool enough for hot tea!!
The internet says most of the country is dying from a heat wave send it on up I say!!! And soon!! We went to a porch party on Saturday night..It was freezing..the wind off the water..ugh!
Came home and watched a mundane movie and ate pizza with the kids.

So for those of you who don't visit ms. barboza's blog she has a link to what your body is worth, monetary wise, dead! i.e: body parts, cadaver,.. just click on my link to her blog and check out her latest entry where you will find the link...answer the questions and you will find out what you are worth dead! Now I came out at 4140.00 but she and Susan Simmons came out at more...age is definitely a factor! I could have tweaked a few questions but I think the age thing is really the kicker on that one.

Trying to clean up some loose ends, did my review for Ginny today. Office is fairly quiet.

Care has the day off. Ty and I went to Bangor yesterday so he could get soccer cleats for todays soccer camp. Naturally the only ones they had in his size were the ones that cost more. I can not keep him in shoes. A pair of cleats a year, several pairs of skate shoes,(these are the every day shoe as well as for skate boarding) then at least two pairs of basketball shoes, he ususually grows out of a pair during the season! a pair of cross trainers for running and tennis, and dress shoes. Oh I forgot then there's boots and snow board boots. This is the minimal amount for a year. And they are all huge..he wears a 12 now. The boxes are huge. The prices are huge.
Olympia sometimes has a two for one deal..that helps. Now they even have a rewards card..I should do pretty well on that thing.

Caroline of course has hundreds of shoes..all of which she buys herself. She finds them all over, and enjoys wearing the highest of heels and the funkiest or fanciest or boldest color or what ever, but she has been the same size for a decade and she can find designer shoes that may have cost over a hundred at Mardens for $3.oo ! She will change with each outfit, or on a whim all day long. Tyler wears one pair a day, at most two, if he has a specific sport that day, and he still costs more!

So not much going on as you can see when I start rambling on about shoes..I need some summer fun..Ginny needs sunshine and a nice day on Saturday..Come on..Summer already!!!!

Sat-errr-day

2007-07-07T11:31:00.000-07:00

What happened to summer? I think its 55 today! No wait its 75...no wait back to 55 and cloudy!
Give me a break, maybe I should get deployed by ARC to the floods for awhile in Texas or Oklahoma at least the weather is consistent. I still have my cold/allergies whatever so I am accomplishing zip today. nada! OH well. Could it at least stay warm out?

Tried to go to Tradewinds our illustrious version of Hannaford in swanky Blue Hill by the Bay..every single parking space...every single one even the ones on the side near Rite aid that no one parks in were taken. Now if I did not have to go to the Pharmacy I would have immediately blew out of there but instead I took two turns around and got a spot..well they had Dons Rx but mine was denied by insurance...Excuse me was not today Lucky Sevens day?? PULEEESE!

So I have been searching the web for 1960's historical fiction for Ty..and thought I might as well let anyone who is actually reading this stuff aware of my misery today. Going to a cocktail Party this afternoon "porch party"; I guess I could use a little liquid attitude adjustment! Nothing else seems to be working today. MY daughter informed me she made 100.00 yesterday..in one day
she's 19! or almost! What did I do wrong? Don't answer that anyone...I already know the answer to that one...and it was my choice! Course if I would finish my self review and hand it to my boss instead of leave it in my bag collecting dust..again my faux pas.

Well all, I hear when we go back to work on Monday its going to warm up, yippee so keep your selfs warm..Have a good weekend and I will try to "lighten up".

The complaint dept. is open...

2007-07-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Hello, my name is Gretchen, what can I "not" help you with today because I am either incapable of entering that website (don't really have access to that), my fax and printer is down and I really wasn't prepared to teach you "first aid" when I came in today! Or would you like career and job advice because yours is crappy right now? Or you can't make up your mind whether to send your employees here for class or have a class at your establishment?

Yes I have been here for three hours and have accomplished all of the above! And of course given Ginny many phone calls to complain about the complaints and tell her I have done nothing of my own job..of course she has done nothing of hers either so we are in cahoots on that one. So that leaves us the wedding..her daughters which is NEXT week to talk about! Speaking of daughters....I am hoping to live thru the summer without an ulcer.

Now she has always been a great trustworthy kid..but at 19 (on the 11th) and of course without a beau, she is out more at night. In a car..her car...get the picture...
Now when she was in High school she went out with her friends but it was the Mall or movies or dinner, and they did not drink. College students drink. I do not have a problem with it unless it involves driving. When she is in DC I don't worry half as much, A. Because she is a responsible drinker, and B. She is either on foot, or on the Metro. Not so in rural Maine. We discuss incessantly believe me...and she assures me...but you know how that goes. Then of course there is the "little issue" that as a 19 year old in the good old US of A you can not drink legally. Now of course she just got back from Europe where every country is 18..many of her friends around here were abroad, or on the Maine Maritime cruise or whatever...its ridiculous what we make these young adults go through. Yes you can ...no you can't. Mothers against Drunk Drivers a worthy organization, got it all wrong on this one though. It has promoted instead a culture of binge drinking and poor alcohol awareness and use on campus. Kids have to hide and drink before they go to the pubs or clubs, so they overindulge..instead of being able to drink responsibly and perhaps with food and more slowly out in the open. And has it prevented teen deaths on the roadways? Not hardly..speed and teenage driving is still the #1 cause of teenage deaths on the highways. So there..my soap box for the day.

So yes, without the boyfriend, means more time "out" circulating and that means a car..so mom is worrying more this summer than ever! She is going to NYC next weekend and I am less worried about that then some night out in Blue Hill! We never stop worrying the causes just change!!

So I saw the doctor today..take more allergy meds, take some prilosec type med incase its gastric, apparenty there is some "mottling on my vocal chords" by the way that was a pleasant exam..not! And it may be my inhaler which has worked so well all these years...ugh! OK OK..
To be continued.

Have to go to class..Prof. is good this time around...project though..just what I don't need.

Complaint Dept is closed for the Day..ARC Girl.

Feeling better..

2007-07-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

I think I have my voice back or almost. I was listening to myself talk today and realized it wasnt so bad..Don said last night the same thing..or that he had just gotten used to the scratchy one! Of course this week I finnally see the MD! I will go anyways, it was a long haul and I might need some allergy med adjustment or something. I think the cold thing might be disappating too. Seems as if its going around though so I don't feel so bad.

4th is tommorow and Ellsworth is packed with cars all trying to go somewhere..ugh. Kathi and Steve took a ride over to MDI to enjoy the day, called to ask about going to Northeast Harbor.
Can't say that would be a bad place to be today. I do have to make a few trips "home" each summer to see what new things they can "accessorize" the main street with for the enjoyment of the rich and richer. She asked which street was mine, I think she was going to try to drive by the house..that will shock her..for those of you who don't know, my family homestead now has a large fountain out in front and a glass english arboretum off the back with a stone lion guarding the top of a stone wall. Nothing too excessive mind you,.. next to the understated shingled cottages on each side of the house!

Speaking of that, the old home..the 30 year old unsolved murder of a young girl that happened when I was a teenager one summer was in the paper. Tyler and I were reading it..boy did that bring back memories. No one was ever murdered there, not like that any ways..young girl from away, body found in the Astique Azelea gardens and her dog just wandering the town. I guess they hope maybe after all these years someone may come forward with something new.

Have to attend my first grant class tonight. Oh..who puts a class on the night before the 4th?
In Maine? Some guy named Christo's that's who. I better stop my whining.
I want to take this and get it over with. So its now or never... or later...

A piece of advice I have always given my kids is that the written word will always follow you, and with the internet, there is no semblance of confidentiality ..just hit the wrong button..I know that.. on an email I sent to the wrong list from work one day! Where am I going with this..I read a blog recently, not one of my groups, that was bitter. It will stick with me instead of disappearing into blog land like the ones we all write daily..and although we may even discuss sad topics or a bad event, the time and space is used wisely, not to hurt someone else or another reader. Yes I would rather be an eternal optimist or live with one...

Happpy 4th everyone. ARC girl.

BTW

2007-07-02T10:03:00.000-07:00

Thats "back to work" not "by the way"..darn it! Seems like everyone is on vacation this week or definitely in that "mode". Ellsworth traffic is one big snarl..or one you want to 'snarl' at! Tried to go get a sandwich at lunch today, to treat myself I decided to go to Frankies at the bookstore thinking they might have a panini special (which they did) getting there..one shopping center down the street was the problem!! Oh well my sandwich and ice coffee tastes good. I am in paper work, computer mode today.

This weekend although beautiful but cool weather wise was a little of a waste for me. I could not get out of my own way. I woke up Sat. morning with a truck on my face. My voice gone again and feeling quite sorry for myself. At least it was sunny on my deck the roses were blooming and the water was blue..I guess I really do live in a beautiful corner of the world most of the year. I did attempt to do stuff which immediately landed me on the couch. Which is where Caroline saw me everytime she came in or out.."just where I left you last time" she would say.
I did do alot of laundry though. Everyone was busy around me though..

Ty did alot of skateboarding and got new shoes .. Don started a deck for my mom, Steve came up to the cottage, Kathi is still with Jennifer but will be up today ( see what I mean about everybody being on vacation) Caroline went to Bar Harbor Sat night, Bangor Friday with Lucy and Northeast Harbor Sunday night all with different groups of friends. I guess she will survive not being in DC. Then she gets up every morning to be at the INN by 7am..she must be exhausted..

Oh and the worst thing of it all..I think my summer class starts tommorow night 4-6:45 jeez. Insult to injury there! Day before the holiday AND the day after.Who came up with that schedule! What was I thinking! This grant writing class seems to only be offered during the summer. I have waited it out several semesters and every year it only comes in the summer so I am biting the bullet. Its a skill I would like to have so I will get it done and then one more course and I will have my non-profit masters certificate. Thats it folks I am not going for the full MS. Not now anyways. Its just too hard to be a student Mom and work for ARC. plus my other volunteer stuff.

So all you party-iers have a drink for me tommorow night while I am sweating in some classroom! Watching some body talk about grants! Keep it down to a dull roar will ya?!

When in doubt blog...

2007-06-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

Got to work late today..Ty had a concert for jazz band camp and did a solo..great!! Then I went to the hospital to see my friend Daune the oncology nurse about Jenn, she did not hear the final outcome, after I called her on the way to Portland on Monday. Then I begged her for help in getting an appointment with her husband (my family doc) so I can get this "whatever I have" taken care of. I feel like" Mono" right now..I am exhausted. I have had mono before but some times it reactivates itself and I had that happen once back in the 80's. I am not sure it would explain this long term laryngitis though. So I have an appointment next Thursday.

Had to do alot of health and safety stuff today including an inventory for year end and a challenge exam..my first one. So by the time I got to even read my email it was almost three o clock. Ginny had written this big update on what Emergency services dept is doing..I was impressed..then I realized that was Us!! Hey we have done alot!! And we are still up to our eyeballs. I have to now figure out Washington County as if Aroostook wasn't enough of a hot spot!! They need shelter surveys..and who knows what else. I am sure the politics are just as tricky, but I don't feel quite so out of place knowing I am at least driving along the coast. Although that "Blueberry World building with the giant blueberries outside..now that was debateable!!

So Don is playing in a golf tourney so I told Ty we would go to the new Mexican restaurant in Sargentville a suburb of Sedgwick for those who don't know..its some section of town where a bunch of Sargents lived so they called it Sargentville because it had its own library and post office, now closed, but its always been taxed under Sedgwick..I suppose they think they might be the "high rent district"..but we have the town landing and carters point and that is significant waterfrontage.
But the people definitely insist on being from "Sargentville" instead of Sedgwick...whatever! The funniest thing is now we have this restaurant of authentic Baja and Mex food. Its too strange...right in the middle of what some people would consider "nowhere"!! We are not talking Rockland here, or Camden or Bar Harbor, we are talking route 15 in Sargentville, suburb of Sedgwick! This is not taco belle either! These people make their own tortillas fillings salsas everything. So you all get the picture.. one of those Maine Quirks..and I think one of those Maine trust fund kids who just had to move back and do something "different"! Oh well I get good food!

Have a great weekend, I plan on doing very little I hope..except enjoying it. G.