Camping

Many, many years ago I remember going camping with my parents and siblings. The memories are not clear. I do have a small scar on one eyebrow from my brother throwing something at me because I was playing with his toy. He wasn't very old and I was probably annoying him. That was the extent of my camping prior to meeting Phil and his family.

One of the first times we went camping together we weren't married yet (but engaged) and we went camping with PV8 and shared the site with his parents. We tented it. Did not enjoy the tenting at all, but did enjoy how relaxed it made Phil and I.

Over the years our enjoyment of camping has continued. We now own a fifth-wheel trailer and are permanent campers at Peppermint Park Campground. We love showing up on a Friday night, slowing down and enjoying the fresh air.

This weekend was perfect camping weather. Cool nights and hot days...We spent hours by the pool with friends. I am burnt, even with spf50, but I had so much fun watching Ben jump in the pool time and time again. Phil enjoys being able to play horseshoes. I love that there is no rush to do anything, including heading home. We left today with no real afternoon plans. Drove home the long way on 47 and enjoyed the beautiful day.

We ended the afternoon with a spontaneous visit to Peg and Jay. Again, enjoying time by a pool. Ben had a blast playing with his Uncle.

Now, I'm hanging out waiting for Ben to be ready for bed, but again...no rush.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Peace to all who read this blog today and everyday.

Joan

Why is life so busy?

I keep asking myself that. It's because we don't say "no" I think. How many of us are running around each weekend with three or four things on our plate each day. It becomes hard to juggle all the things and then when you are at an event it feels like you are just waiting until you have to leave for the next event. I felt that way yesterday. We had two big events, both with people important to us. Luckily they were not at the same time, but it did mean cutting each visit shorter than I would have like. I'm glad we made the time to go, but I wish it had been more.

Even with all this rain going on you'd think that life would slow down some. We tend not to head up to the camper if we know the weekend is going to be a washout. Immediately upon making that decision our weekend fills up with other plans. I miss the hanging out in the backyard watching Ben and his best buddy. How I wish I could have spent quality time sewing this weekend.

Today was a good day even though it was jammed packed. Ben and I took Phil to the Egg & I for a nice breakfast. Then it was off to Holy Cross Church in Holyoke for 10:30 mass, but first had to drop off the marinating chicken for the picnic at Mary's. After mass, the Murphy clan converged on Mary's house for an Anniversary party for Mum and Dad. This was loads of fun. We missed Rosie and her family. She's still on bedrest post surgery. The up side is that it has forced her to slow her life down and now I have gotten to talk to her more frequently, which I love.

The highlight today was playing a homemade $100000 Pyramid. Emily played our host. Peg and I did really well, but Sheila and Melissa came away with the bragging right.

How many of us out there know people married 45 years? Isn't that amazing? But yet, here I am married almost 17 years and can see what my life will be like with Phil at 45 years. Looks good. I think what I love is that my parents do so much together and yet support each others hobbies.

Talking about busy, but making time for things that are worth it...Friday night my good friend Betty asked me to go with her to our local Ultreya. I would have loved to stay home but went. The witness speaker was great and very energizing. It was worth running around after work just to be able to go. Thanks Betty for making me go. It was so worth it!

So, I've rambled enough. I hope that this week I will chose carefully my committments and remember what is most important in my life...God, faith and family.

Peace to all who read this blog today and always.
Joan

I'm still here!

Life right now is full of ups and downs. We are all getting over being sick.

Phil as always has been super busy. He has been making various repairs of leaks thanks to ice damns on the roof. In addition, he redid the dining room and made it into our bedroom. Here are some pictures. I love it! It came out exactly as I wanted.

This weekend is the Springfield RV, Camping and Outdoor Show. Phil is doing all our shifts since Ben is still sick. It is not easy being home and not being a part of the show. Good luck Frank & Diane!

My family is all doing well. I have a new nephew, Jimmy. He is a doll. We went down to New Jersey to see my sister Amy and her family. Her oldest, Jon, graduated High School. It was a wonderful visit. I wish it had been for longer. Her youngest, Gregory, is beautiful. A nice snuggler.

Work is going well and I've learned a ton. A lot of the projects that I have been working on are now all fitting together. Lots still to learn.

I've been on Facebook. I actually like it because I can hop on for a couple of minutes and see how everyone is. I still prefer my family group pages even though the updates take longer to read they all mean more.

So, off I go to check on Ben. I've already talked to two sisters this morning...what a nice blessing that is.

Peace to all who read this blog today and everyday.

Joan

Wow! What a fun Christmas!

This year, our Christmas was filled with Lego's and a new pet. Here is a picture of Phil working on building one set of the legos.

Ben is loving being surrounded by his legos. We had loads of fun. Five is GREAT!

Oh. our new pet...

What is Christmas without a spider? Yes, Ben got his wish and received "Fluffy" from his Aunt and Uncle. I have to admit that I'm already okay with having Fluffy in the house. And, it fulfilled the rest of Ben's Christmas Wish List.

The day was spend with family and friends. We were thankful that JM came over to watch Ben open his gifts with us. Dinner was great and Ben was on overload. I enjoyed having my nephews stop over to see me. I also was thrilled that on Sunday my cousins Thomas and Steve stopped over with my Auntie Beth. We had a wonderful visit.

Well, off to take down the tree and figure out where all these new toys should go.

Peace to all who read this blog today and everyday.

Joan

Almost five is Great!

Having an almost five year old is so much fun! We have been working on saying prayers each night before bed. Not just the Our Father, but a prayer of thanks. Well, the other night as Ben began thanking God for everything in the whole world, he began to list all the things in the whole world like...the filter in the fish tank, the door to his room, his dresser. Cuter things were the roof over our heads and food in our bellies. He listed things for five minutes. I finally had to tell him to wrap it up. (Mainly I was trying not to laugh and needed to leave the room before I did.)

Today, we had Ben's friend birthday party. It was supposed to be last night, but because of the bad weather we had to postpone until today. Luckily Ben's two best buddies, Mateusz and Brady, were able to make it along with a his cousin Leslie, friends Sam and Courtney. It was a lot of fun. Ben wanted a Spider themed party. When I ordered the cake to have a spider web and spider, they confirmed that I didn't want Spiderman. I politely said, no just a spider with eight legs and web please. I made gift bags with spider rings, plastic spiders, spider tatoos, and candy. We also played, pin the spider on the web which I made. That was loads of fun.

Ben was great about saying thank you for the gifts, but then was annoyed when people didn't leave quick enough because he knew he couldn't build his new legos until they all left. So, Lego building took place and now he is happily playing. My heart is full!

Well, with the holidays I haven't been able to post as often. Forgive me!

Peace to all who read this blog today and everyday!
Joan

I'm Thankful

I am thankful for a wonderful husband who is kind, generous and always there for me.
I am thankful for my Christmas miracle - Benjamin.
I am thankful for my parents, my in-laws, my sisters and brother, my out-laws, my nieces and nephews.
I am thankful for Beth who is there in all kinds of weather.
I am thankful for a roof over my head and food on my table.
I am thankful to still have my Memere.
I am thankful that I knew my Gramps and Grandma and Pepere.
I am thankful that I have faith that God loves me and all those around me.
I am thankful to have friends in my life who know me, really know me.
I am thankful for bubblebaths, red wine and a good book.
I am thankful for everyone who reads this silly little blog.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Peace to all who read this blog today and everday.
Joan

Amazing!

Okay, so I rarely go to concerts. I think that I can count on one hand the number of times I've gone to one...but last night I had such a great time. A group of us women all around the same age, crammed into a small car and drove down to Mohegan Sun. We got there in record time thanks to Johnna's driving ;) We were all very excited to go see Elton John. Alicia had gotten tickets and they were for behind the stage. We figured it didn't really matter, but they were AWESOME. We could see EVERYTHING.

Sir Elton played for three hours straight! How does that man do it? Some of the group didn't enjoy how some of the songs had long piano introductions, but I LOVE that. He'd finish one song take a quick bow and thank the crowd and go right into another song. His band is also fantastic. I loved watching the percussionist with all his gadgets. Really cool.

Throughout the concert I paid attention to the lighting and thought of my nephew Jeff. He would have really been impressed.

Got home by 1:30 am and was up at 8:15 today to go get a haircut. I'm tired, but it was so worth it! Totally going to take a nap today!

I'm supposed to be helping with the Children's Christmas Pageant Rehearsal today, but after about 1 hour Ben looked flushed and had a slight fever so I brought him home. I know he's sick because when I mentioned he needed a nap he said "OK Mom". You know that means he's not feeling well. So he's eating soup right now and then will go down for a nap.

Peace to all who read this blog today and everday!
Joan