The WeekEND

I am so glad the word "End" is in the word "weekend"!

Saturday was a fine day. The weather was perfect for our trip to the Lebanon Farmer's market. We found some wonderful gifts for Lauren and Andy. The girls spent some of their own money on apples, maple sugar candy, and pastries.

We then walked over to the library and returned our library books, paid our overdue fines (I just fork over $2 every week), and took out new books. Next we went to the bank so the girls could deposit their babysitting money. Everywhere we went we bumped into friends and had a nice chat.

Sam was in Maryland for the National Fallen Firefighters Memorial service for all firefighters killed in the line of duty in 2007. There were 110 firefighters killed on the job last year. He and three other Waterbury firefighters were down there to honor Capt. John Keane, who died May 22, 2007. Sam was due to come home Sunday night and had left early Thursday morning.

In the afternoon, we gathered the hickory nuts from the ground and everyone helped to shell them. We still have a bajillion left to shell, but they are tasty! So that should be a good motivator for us to finish the job.

Rachel and Samantha gathered their leaves for their school project. Nathalie helped them to press them between the encyclopedias (and my college history professor said encyclopedias had no real use in the modern world!). They should be set to go to school this morning.

Saturday after dinner, Hannah was digging through a cupboard of Sam's things looking for the walkie-talkie re-charger. She managed to knock over an entire shelf including a gallon can of paint. Of course it fell with enough force to knock the lid off and dump its contents onto the carpet.

I'll admit that I lost my temper. First off, she had been told not to bother with the re-charger. Secondly, she shouldn't have been digging through Sam's tools. Lastly, when she knocked the stuff down, she didn't tell me about the paint can. She just left it there for me to discover!

A backpack, bathrobe, and several pieces of wood were ruined with paint. I then spent several hours between Saturday and Sunday cleaning up what was left on the floor. When Sam got home on Sunday night he saw the spot where the paint had been and commented, "It doesn't look that bad." I figured it was better to take it as a complement to my cleaning ability than to take it as I had somehow exaggerated the mess to him over the phone. Well, better for him, anyway.

Then Saturday night about 11:30, Samantha begins to throw up. She wisely doesn't throw up in her own bed. She leans over the top bunk rail and pukes on Rachel's bed and the floor! I sent Samantha to the bathroom to clean up and sent Rachel to sleep with Hannah. I then cleaned up that mess. Do you have any idea the splatter effect of vomit from 6 feet up? I do! Samantha continued to throw up for another few hours. I think it was about 3 AM when she finally fell asleep until morning.

So Sunday we stayed home from church, since I didn't know if it was a bug thing or a food thing. Hannah chose to ignore her chickens again so now she is on kitchen duty and Nathalie is helping Abby with the animals. We watched the memorial service from Maryland on the computer. It was a very moving event.

Sam called after it was over to tell me they were leaving and he should be home around 7PM. He then called me at 7PM to let me know that they were just entering New York from Pennsylvania! They had been stuck in construction traffic for over 3 hours! He finally arrived home around 10PM.
So this morning we have a new animal care schedule, a very clean rug in the basement, leaves that are pressed, and hickory nuts to eat on our pancakes! I am so glad this weekend had an end!