Erin... At Home, Finally.

After a hurricane delay, ten minutes in the worst motel in America, a week at Homewood Suites by Hilton ( I can't reccommend this hotel highly enough for a pet friendly hotel in the NYC area), we are finally H-O-M-E. Not that she's officially ours- we close in a week. We took early occupancy, in our big, empty, wonderful house, so the kids could start school quasi on time. And, I am so happy! Furniture comes tomorrow, and I will be even happier, and I will be ecstatic when we close.

What do people do when they have hours (days) to kill in an empty house with no tv or internet? They wrangle their silly little dogs into silly Halloween costumes. Of course.

Please, allow me to introduce you to a couple of our neighbors. We are only 50 miles north of Manhattan, so I knew the residents might be a little rougher than we are used to. But, I was a little put out when they decided to help themselves to the apples right off of our tree!

He calls himself "Chuck". I have no way of knowing if that is his real name.

We both need to lose a couple of pounds. Maybe we'll become walking buddies.

But, it's this gal who really takes the cake. She shows up and eats apples right off our tree. Sometimes she brings her kids, which is fine. It's her husband, though, that kinda gives me the creeps.

Who does that? He's all glowy eyed, staring into my kitchen. Nervy.

And I've heard rumours about a Bear family. Apparently, they lumber all over the 'hood, where ever they like, and occassianally knock over your trash cans. Sounds a liitle annoying, but perhaps I'll warm up to them.

Kidding aside, I've never met a more welcoming, generous, or friendly group of wonderful folks in all my life. We have been offered everything from coffee to air matttresses, food, basically anything we need. We have wi-fi thanks to our next door neighbor who brought over a transmitter and password for us. I've already been on a fun run to Target with a new gal pal! Life is good! To quote my most adorable niece, "life just keeps getting better and better".

Thanks for reading, and have a happy home!

What I Did On My Summer Vacation...

While other kids met the annual beginning of the year assignment with moans, I always secretly relished it. How fun to get to write about trips to the beach, picnics, camp, or even just sharing the sheer joy of endless days doing nothing. And, we had quite an eventful summer. So, I'll relive a childhood favorite and share...

What I Did On My Summer Vacation by Erin T.

We started our summer by packing up our Chicago suburb rental house, in preparation for our move to Long Island. Then I boarded a plan with my three beautiful daughters to visit with my parents in western NY while we waited to close on our house. My husband left for work in NY (and elsewhere- he manages 50 states), and visited us on weekends.

We celebrated the birthdays of both of my parents!

We bought passes to, and spent several happy afternoons at the same amusement park that I went to as a kid and worked at as a teenager. Now I have the pleasure of watching our youngest ride some of the same rides I loved when I was her age, and watch my older two on some of the newer, scarier rides that weren't there when I was a kid!

Then our housing deal fell through. Disappointing doesn't describe it. But, at least we were at my mom and dad's. We had to start over, and reassess whether Long Island was the best place for our family. We decided to start over in Orange County, about 50 miles north of Manhattan. This turned our 2-3 week visit with my parents into a summer long adventure. Which, they handled graciously.

We celebrated The Fourth of July with a barbecue, parade, fireworks, and obligatory Jell-O cake, in flag form, of course!

I bought a kayak, affectionately named "Yellow Boat". The reasons for her name are more personal than I care to share on this blog. :D I spent many happy hours on the Niagara River in her, mainly with my brother, an athletic outdoorsy type, happy to let me tag along. Here, we had beached our boats on an island in search of ancient bird bones and eggs. My bro, wild man that he is, found a bounty in minutes.

We brought home this crazy, lovey furball of a dog to my mom's. So generous of my parents to let us housebreak a puppy in their house! He is a mini schnauzer named Arthur, and we are all in love!

I spent my 15th anniversary to my gorgeous husband, here- The Mohonk Mountain House in New Paltz, NY. I booked it after watching a hilarious episode of  "No Reservations" in which the mystical charms of The Mohonk actually turned Anthony Bourdain into a relaxed, happy fellow. It was definitely an experience! Unfortunately, we had to combine pleasure with house hunting, so we didn't get to take advantage of a fraction of the resort's amenities.

After two failed attempts at making offers on other houses, we went into contract to buy this house, site unseen. Crazy. I know. The hubs has since been in, taking hundreds of pics, and I couldn't be more excited! But, now we wait to close. And wait. And wait.

We spent three fun filled days with my aunt & uncle at their beautiful home on Cattaraugus (sp.?) Creek!

We visited two different beaches. We built countless castles, and collected an obscene amount of shells, driftwood, sea glass, and assorted beach ephemera. "Hi. My name is Erin and I am an apothecary jar junkie."

 I got to drag my family to visit a place I haven't been to since I was a child, Genesee Village Museum. It was as magical as I remember it! A happy surprise was my 14 year old was as into it as I was. We went on Laura Ingalls Wilder Days and bought matching bonnets!

I made it to the Erie County Fair for the first time in my life! It only took 36 25 years! The deep fried mac & cheese and mashed potatoes on a stick were worth the trip alone!!!

And, I got to spend more time with my BFF than I have since we were kids. She makes me feel 12 again, and can still make me laugh until I pee! Oh, and she's a great mom, prayer warrior, beautiful (inside & out), great loving friend.

We had bonfires, barbecues, amazing dinners, bike rides. I got to watch some of the last episodes of our beloved "All My Children" with my mom- already mourning it's imminent end.

We left my mom's yesterday. You would think a grown woman wouldn't cry after spending 3 months with her parents. I did. I am now homesick for my childhood home. Now, we wait, in a hotel in New Jersey, with 3 kids, 3 fish and a dog, to close on our new home in New York. I only know that it could be any day. We would love to rent from the sellers while we await closing day, but they seem to not be interested in that arrangement. So, we wait.

Thank you for reading my first entry (if you made it to the end)! Please follow me! I promise all entries will not be so interminable!

Wishing you a happy home!