Finley & I

Ben just got home from a camping trip with "the guys". They had fun even though it rained quite and bit and he is extremely stressed about Vet school. My parents came up from NJ to watch Finley on Saturday, so I could go whippet racing with Pax. I had a lovely day with just one dog and no one else to worry about. I got very little sleep the night before though, so I was not feeling great when I got home and the other dogs and Finley were full of energy. We went out to an Italian restaurant called Dinos and I got my standard eggplant dish and shared it with Finley.

Today Finley and I went to the Sterling fair. It was weird to be there without Ben, but we better get used to that. He is going to be spending the next 4 years buried in books. Anyway, it was a cute little fair with all the standard stuff. Fin decided recently that she doesn't love horses, goats or sheep anymore..Now it's all about the cows and cars/trucks and other modes of transportation. Sooo...we checked out the helicopters and of course Fin loved nothing more than the ride that spins around and she gets to sit in a car. Speaking of that she has a new obsession with getting in the drivers seat when we get home. She says "drive car" and she wants to sit out there and pretend she is going food shopping or to the lake. She is always sure to bring me good stuff from the grocery store..usually PB&J, bread or butter.

Lets see more updates on Finley...well for food, she has been really into PB&J and even named her toy spider after it. She also still loves hummus, grapes, pasta/noodles, cheese, broccoli, hotdogs, french fries, rice, soup, burritos, ranch dressing, juice, peaches, mac and cheese, grilled cheese..but she'll eat pretty much anything we offer. She still sleeps wonderfully..in fact she's going on 2 hours for her nap right now.

This morning she woke up at 8:15 and I woke up for a second..waited 2 minutes and didn't hear anything else and she went back to bed until 10 am..thats my girl! She's gotten a lot taller, which I only know because I got her onto a ride that required her to be 36" and she was just about there. She loves to sit in her room and read books by herself, play with the dogs, go to the playground and swing, play with other kids. Fin still loves to help by cleaning, carrying stuff, pushing the stroller, holding the dogs leash, feeding the dogs. She is in a climbing phase, in which she carries around a stool to get up to higher places. The biggest thing is her talking! Finley doesn't repeat us really anymore..she actually responds to questions and remembers things she did. She even said a full sentence today (it was completely out of context but thats beside the point). She said "Rachel and Teddy have a dog named Odie". I was so proud and am amazed everyday at the things she says. She really is an awesome kid and Im proud to be her Mama

Looking Up

My first freak out moment was in the first two weeks we moved in to this house and there was stuff everywhere and no where to put it. Last night we made our last trip to our storage unit and everything we don't absolutely need is safely, neatly packed away there. The simple lack of clutter has a big positive effect on me. Yeah I havent seen some of my beloved cooking supplies, paintings, decorations, books and who knows what else for 5 months now with no end in sight..but at least Im not stepping over boxes.

The basement is now finished, I guess. There is a new shitty vinyl floor on top of the stinky concrete and the wall are still the same. Just as gross as ever. The root of the stench is in the boiler room, which is still in full effect. Sadly the basement will always be unusable since the landlord decided not to gut it, but at least the smell doesn't come upstairs anymore and I only smell it when I go downstairs to do laundry. The upstairs is set up as much as it's going to be. We have our couches, a place to cook and eat and basic neccesitities on our bedrooms.

I am also feeling better in some ways about the house search. We decided to stick with a town called Sturbridge, MA, which is about 30 minutes southwest of Tufts, rather than where we were looking before...30 minutes east toward Boston. Sturbridge is almost 1/2 the price for houses in some cases. This will help a lot and we really do like the area, although now I'll be looking at UCONN and two schools in Springfield for physical therapy school instead of UMASS. The main problem with this otherwise perfect solution is that there are only 10 houses for sale at the moment that meet our basic criteria and we easily crossed them off because they are either in a subdivision, on a very busy road, extremely ugly or need a lot of work. So the plan is to look daily and hope something comes up soon!

Ben started school today, so until I get a job I'm watching Finley. I need to find a gym class or something fun for us to do together. She will still be going to school 2 days a week so that I have time to search for jobs. I have a full day of working on my computer ahead of me at Panera tomorrow.

Finley with her Owl 28 months

Right now Ben is outside with Finley and the dogs and I am enjoying some quiet time.  We're having A jambalaya type of soup with locally made sausage for dinner!

Not Good

I rarely post negative things because I try not to dwell on them. It doesn't help anything. But I don't have much positive to say right now. Ben, Finley, the dogs and I are all fine, but things are awful right now. It feels like we hit road blocks over and over again and the stress is building up. The stress of selling our house, packing up our stuff and moving to a place we've never really been was enough. But then we couldn't find a place to live and had to invade our friends house for 3 months. That was all challenging but tolerable. Then we finally get this rental house we've been waiting for and it is a dump. I am not the type of person that can handle lots of clutter, but it's very hard to fit everything in 1/2 the house because the other half is unusable. Last week, I couldn't take stepping over stuff anymore and went and got a storage unit. So now we are paying for a house that we can't use AND we have to pay for a storage unit. Only 2 burners on the stove work, the house is dirty and there is tons of garbage in the yard from previous tenants. Its such a huge step down from our house and lifestyle in Seattle. And then you'd think that the plan to buy a house would help the situation, but that isn't going well either. When we originally planned to move, we thought we could get a much bigger house with a bigger yard. That was the primary reason we moved. Now prices are going up and the specific area that works the best for us in terms of location happens to be more expensive than we can afford. So it's looking like we probably won't be able to get a house that is any better than the one we had in Seattle and maybe a slightly bigger yard if we are lucky. This is not a good feeling after this kind of move. I'm not done yet. Since we don't know where we will be living, I can't really apply for jobs and that doesn't help our financial situation at all and the idea into physical therapy school is just making things more complicated. Add this situation to all the typical stresses of moving to a new place and it's too much to handle! Things can only get better I hope!

next step

We moved into our own house this week. It feels good to have all of our possessions back and sleep in our own bed for the first time in 4 months, but it also feels like just the next step. The house is in a good location for Ben to get to school and the neighborhood actually reminds me of ours in Seattle with less traffic and more dead end roads. It's mostly 1950's-1960's ranches on 1/4 acre or less lots. The house is smaller than our last house and has only 1 bathroom and isn't the nicest. The front stairs are falling apart, it's not especially clean and the entire downstairs was unusable when we got there because of the smell of cat urine. Apparently the previous tenants cat used the downstairs of the house as a litter box. I can't really even go down there without gagging. Anyway, I immediately called the landlord and told her that we will be looking for a new place to live unless the smell goes away. She was really helpful and arranged for a company to come in and detoxify the basement, put in new floors and paint the walls. We are hoping it works!

We are still plugging away at house shopping. It's easier now that we are closer to where we are looking. And now that I've seen our rental house..I am even more motivated to find a new house. I've been applying for jobs a lot. I had one interview, but they "decided not to fill the position". Finley is doing great! She is talking more and more. She puts together funny sentences and makes good observations about the world. Last weekend we went to an Italian food festival and stayed in a hotel so we could be closer a race even for Pax. They had no crib or pack n play so she slept in the bed next to us. She reminded me of a kid at a sleepover party...laughing, saying "watch this watch this" and jumping on the bed. She seems to understand that we don't live with Sue and Joe anymore and that we have our own house. Fin is at daycare today so I have some time to look for jobs. We are going to pick her up and then head over to Framingham to take the dogs for a hike, chiropractor for all three and then we'll go out to dinner after.

summer trip

Before we left for vacation Sue made this amazing dessert. Strawberry Rhubarb and Apple Pie

We went to the Brockton fair and had so much fun! We ate greasy fair food, saw a demolition derby (which is so weird to me) and Ben & Fin both got wristbands. The train was Finleys favorite ride because she could ride it alone

 We took Finley for her 3rd haircut ever. It was a cute place that specializes in kids haircuts. She looks very cute with her short bangs :)

We just got home from Cape Cod, which in my opinion is the perfect vacation spot. I absolutely love it there. It sort of reminds me of Italy for some reason, but mainly it's everything that summer vacation should be. We picked a house to rent in Brewster, which turned out to be in a great location. The house had the perfect set up for the dogs. They spent most of their time in the breezeway with the door to outside open. With 6 acres and a private road..we weren't worried about them going anywhere.

We did a few scenic drives to different parts of the Cape stopping along the way to check out toy stores, bakeries, little markets and general stores. We went to the Heritage Gardens in Sandwich to ride an antique carousel, see an amazing hydrangea display, antique cars and a Norman Rockwell exhibit. Ben and I went kayaking on the Bass River while Finley stayed at the house with Gran & Pop. I don't know why we don't go more often because it's so much fun! We paddled to some salt marsh areas and saw lots of birds and enjoyed the quiet.


Somehow I randomly picked the town of Brewster for our home base and the beaches there happened to be perfect. Ben was happy to be able to ride his bike there every day. We went one day in the morning and the tide was out very far, but we were able to  walk and find some pools that were the perfect depth for Fin to sit and play. We went several times at around 6 pm when the tide was in and did some swimming. I found it to be very pleasant, but Ben wasn't impressed with the grass in the water! Our house was walking distance to a little Seafood/Ice cream shack called Kates and one evening we walked Goose, Pax and Finley there for some ice cream. We ate out for most dinners or sometimes I skipped dinner and just ate ice cream. Once night we went to the Oyster Company for happy hour and had 2 dozen. Finley even ate one! We also enjoyed the Sesuit Cafe, Seafood Sams, Cobies and the Red Nun in Chatham.



I could definitely live in a place like this. I love everything about it. We plan to go back in the fall and winter to see if we could handle it year round.

experiencing summer

Gran & Pop arrived last night and we had an early 4th of July dinner with Sue and Joe. We had BBQ chicken, steak, roasted peppers, onions and zucchini, grilled corn and italian bread with butter. For dessert we had two amazing pies that Sue made from scratch. Apple and strawberry rhubarb with vanilla ice cream of course. I tried my apple with some sharp cheddar. It was actually pretty good!

Gran & Pop are staying at a nice B&B in Sutton, which is basically the closest accommodation to Sue & Joes house we could find. Hopefully tonight we will go to the fair to see fireworks, go on some rides and see some farm animals.

Finley started daycare last week. She will be going two days a week. It's a little weird because it's in a home setting, but there are some perks that aren't available at commercial places. We pay by the day and are allowed to change the day or cancel anytime. It's very flexible. It's not as structured as her previous daycare. They do arts & crafts other fun activities, but it's more like being at a baby sitter. I plan to put her in pre-school when she is closer to 3 and she is safe and has fun, so I'm not too worried. Also she is around some older kids that are very good with her, which makes me happy. Her favorite friend there is Lucas. She loves the cat, the baby dolls and unfortunately Barney. Of course they are quite surprised with the quantity she eats and so far the only time she's cried is when they ran out of food! She's a big eater!

We are having fun experiencing summer in New England. It's very different because it's so hot out! We spent a few days just swimming in the pool, Barbequing, going to scoop shops at night and last weekend we went to the Millbury carnival. It was just like the carnivals I went to when I was a kid. We had fun riding the ferris wheel and Finley even went on a few rides by herself.

Still no luck finding a house to buy or even anything promising. I really want a place with a pool and a mother-in-law, at least 1 acre and 3 bedrooms. I'm willing to be flexible on the location and age of the house..although the house has to be visually appealing. I have yet to find one that meets my criteria even with lowering my original hopes for an old house with at least 5 acres.

Natural Pet store in Gloucster

 The beach in Rockport from a few weeks ago

 Ben made us an amazing dinner of beer can chicken in fried string beans

The food festival In Worcester

Sue and Joes lovely house

 We went to the Beef Barn the other night which specializes in roast beef sandwiches. I had a steak sandwich with swiss and mushrooms and a piece of peanut butter pie for dessert. It was very good and very inexpensive. We need to go there for breakfast soon!

 Sue's pies from last night

Fried String Beans


by The Neelys

Ingredients

• Peanut oil, for frying
• 1 cup beer
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons salt, plus more for seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
• 1 pound green beans, ends trimmed

Directions

Preheat oil to 375 degrees F.

Whisk the beer, flour, salt and pepper until smooth.

Dip green beans into batter to coat, letting excess drip off. Fry in the peanut oil in batches, until they are golden and crisp. Remove from oil with a spider strainer to a paper towel lined sheet tray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2 months

We have been in Massachusetts for 2 months now.  We are still staying with friends in Douglas, MA. It's a great location in terms of the amount of property and it's beautiful, but hard to get used to the amount of driving required to get most places. We've been looking for houses to buy closer to Boston...basically half way between Ben's school and Boston, but haven't found anything yet. We've narrowed down the area to a few towns, but every house seems to be lacking one of the essentials for us. We aren't in a huge rush and are still set up with a rental house starting August 1st, so we'll continue to look until we find something ideal.

 For Fathers Day we went to the beach north of Boston. We checked out Gloucester, Rockport and Salem. We absolutely loved this area. We may end up moving closer to the beach once Ben is done with school. It was very much like Cape Cod. Lots of people walking around, hip restaurants, cute shops, beautiful ocean views. I also really like Northampton...so for a permanent location it will be a toss up between these two areas! Central Massachusetts (where we will be near Tufts) is beautiful, but I feel like we don't fit in as well as we would in another part of the state. Oh and our our house in Seattle is officially closed!

Finley is on the strangest sleeping schedule right now. She sleeps a lot! A typical day for her starts at around 11 am and then a nap from 3- 5 and then to bed around 10 pm. It's hard to get her off the cycle. When I go in her room in the morning. She sits up and says "good" and nods her head. She has been doing wonderfully in her new big girl bed. At first we put up a gate around it, but she actually just stays in bed until someone comes to get her. She also loves jumping up and down and saying "new bed!" "new bed!"

After getting up she typically starts talking about what she wants for breakfast. Lately all she wants is hummus and crackers with juice. But in the interest of keeping her eating a wide variety of foods, I try to give her something different everyday. After breakfast we usually go on some outing. Yesterday we went to Worcester to check out a locally owned toy store, where she got some toy cars and wooden blocks. We also usually take a scenic drive and look at the farm animals along the way. Then we come home and have lunch, which is usually leftovers from dinner, we play for a little while and then it's time for a nap. In the morning before 11 I usually have sometime to get stuff done and then during her nap I cook dinner and exercise the dogs. Although lately I've been running the dogs in the morning too.

Since Finley is up until 10 pm, we've been able to go out at night. On Saturday we went out to eat in Grafton at the Post Office Pub right near our future house. There was a live band and Finley had fun doing a little dancing. After that we went to watch the Millbury fireworks. We were pretty far away and all Finley cared about where the cars down below our viewpoint, but it was a fun night!

Last night we went of to a Food Festival on Shrewsbury St in Worcester. It was $25 for all you can eat samples at most of the restaurants on the street. We did a ton of walking and eating. It always feels weird to have that many different types of food, but most of it was really good. We had pasta, chicken wings, gelato, cream puffs, smoothies, sushi, tacos and pizza! Finley was a trooper and stayed in her stroller most of the time. I was impressed by the number of people there. The city is a little rough around the edges, but has a lot of character.