I spent most of the day with Uncle Dudley and her husband Bernie, squeezing every last drop of sunshine from the clear blue sky. they have been in Florida since October and we just needed time to chat and catch up. usually Uncle Dudley and I have a little time alone but Bernie really wanted to hang out with us. the box of wine label says it is more eco-friendly than glass bottles.

my housemate Wendy's cat Honey scared me Sunday night & Monday morning by not coming out to greet me. she was fine when Wendy got home Monday morning. I couldn't imagine having to tell her either I had lost honey or that she was dead. Honey is a couple years older than China Cat.

My cousin Ronn was in Muscle Car Review, Dec. 2012, with his dodge dart.

I set up A's new (refurb) computer ($200!) and then went to the office to get my mail. Much to my surprise, Jill arrived only minutes later, so we got to catch up a bit. It's been a month and a half, I miss home and all of these people so much, all the tight connections between us. Jill was anxious and worried tho, she had just heard that a a friend's two-month old baby was on the way to the hospital because he was unresponsive. She was shaking with fear and shock and was trying to coordinate with others about who was taking the other two kids, who was going with the mom to the hospital, who was getting in touch with relatives and other friends. As the drama unfolded, we talked about a new tree plan for the boro, the council, and the school district's self-inflicted disaster to distract her. Then the news finally came, the baby died. Jill broke down.

One of the awkward things about inviting (e:Dianne) to participate in (e:strip) is that I'm using to sharing about my life with A and I know that relationship makes her uncomfortable. Her face tenses up and she withdraws just a touch when I mention him. (sigh) I'm gonna continue sharing all the pieces of my crazy life...

I was home briefly Wednesday and Thursday. I got dinner for A, his dad, brother and me and we all hung out in the living room, talked about taxes and family and work, and I had to leave. I think that makes about four hours for the entire month of March that I've spent with him.

My (belated) Valentine's Day present from A. Our friend HokE blows glass and made these.



Cuddling on the couch with fuzzy puppy and fuzzy A.



I miss home. I miss Nisha. I miss Jill. I miss hiking and quiet and stars. I'm really hoping the next year will make it easier to balance between.

i locked my keys in my truck in the holiday parking lot last week when i was home. i walked down the street to Boro hall where the police department has its office (a windowless room smaller than our office) and asked Josh the cop to open it for me. he let me look at his new suv that the Boro just spent $40k on. sheesh.

Jamie checked out the interesting new clunking noise in the steering column of my truck.

view from client's front porch.















Old white guys who run the town.

I haven't been home in a month. That's just way too long.

When I got to the bar, there were five people - Bartender Sarah, her mom Brenda, the cook Alyssa, Paulie and me. Then my & A's friend Dave stopped in with two of his friends, one of whom is also a lawyer in the county. Keep in mind that there are only 76 lawyers in the county... including the dead and disbarred, and now there are two in a group of eight people at the only public bar in my town. Dave and I chat a while... once I explained the difference between terrorists and pirates while we were packing up at the end of the annual bluegrass party. He plays cello and is a drummer. S, the lawyer, had once been suspended from practice for some rather loose and illegal dealings in marijuana...the disciplinary file is hilarious. He offered me a job tonight, he asked if I'd be interested in doing the divorce work in his office. No thanks! Sarah laughed at his suggestion, she knows I couldn't possibly be mean enough.



Walking home from the bar tonight.




Puppy prints :-)



Billy the postmaster changes the date in the postmark stamp with a pair of tweezers.





Chocolate covered double stuf Oreos. Yum!!


My hands aren't nearly big enough for the Note. ;-)


View from my client's front porch yesterday.


York Holo is the brewpub in Mansfield. Their beer is touch bland but they make a wicked pizza on Monday nights and the bartender is excellent.

I didn't take very many pix and they turned out crappy - too much troubleshooting, not enough photoshooting. Besides, the lighting conditions were tough and I needed to be able to concentrate to get great shots. (Using a flash is lazy!)






Jill taking her turn with zamboni duties.

b&w?

The small town christmas in bl*ssburg event was very successful. I scored this cute record bowl, maple cotton candy, regular maple candy, fudge in a cookie cutter, and some cute ornaments. I really wanted these cool lights but didn't have sufficient cash.

I could put it on my card... But at $1.35/draft, it seems silly.

We built a little ice rink today for our super cute Christmas festival
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My brother and Shane put down the underlayer


The top layer is white plastic that gets lubed up to skate on. Shane picked it up in Cheektowaga on Wednesday.


Tonya was extremely persistent in getting this project together - she got to be the first skater. She and her husband Tom had their first date ice skating.



I skated and it started snowing - it was really a fun moment. (photo by Julie)


Mataya & Liam skated


Mataya climbed a tree


More pix tomorrow after the event!

By far my favorite shot of the day - Myra Kreger is the chief of the (all volunteer) ambulance company and she was tickled to show off the new ambulance they just bought. Her mom taught me to sew as a kid - I have very special memories of Peg's house.





I took this shot at 8:16am and am posting it just as proof of awakeness. I am rarely awake at that uncivilized time of day and I had forgotten how beautiful the light can be as it's peeking over the mountain.





The mayor has a new little scooter thingy that I got to ride around the parking lot for a minute.


My brother also took it for a spin.


Mayor and one of the county commissioners.


The fire & ambulance department just bought a new "Jaws of Life" set. They cost $40,000. The department donated their old set to an even smaller fire department in the west side of the county.


The department gave a demonstration and demolished this car in under 30 minutes.




The Masonic lodge gave the department a check for $1,500 and had an open house in their secret space above the auto parts store. It's the first time I've been in there since I was a very young child. My grandmother and uncle lived across the hall from the lodge room (the baby is my uncle's grandchild). I really liked the lighting and casual pile of top hats.



My littlest cousin.


and his grandmother






Sue participated in the hot dog eating contest with one of her sons, sold out of all the yummy egg rolls, noodles and fried rice that she made, and then won the pie-baking contest!









My friend Jennie's daughter Skye grumpily showing me her new tattoo. Sometimes Jennie makes me wish I was a good girl...


Patrick (one of the folks who lost his house in the fire I wrote about in June) ate 15 hot dogs to be the new champion.



Part of the crowd watching the hot dog eating contest.




More pix here

My reporter pal Jason took this video of the jaws of life demo: