Pumpkins and Leaves and other Fall Things

Every morning I take Ariana to the bus stop, I curse myself for not bring along a camera. For each morning brings another breathless sight as the leaves continue to change and the water on the like shines, mirroring the ducks as they swim back and forth in a tight procession. I will get pictures - one of these days.

Fall means apple picking, pumpkin carving and leaves. We are experiencing all of them thanks to the area we live in and our friends from Japan who are visiting, prompting us to leave the chores of the house and venture out.

Our first stop was the Blue Jay Orchards, where rows and rows of apple trees greeted us as we drove up. With five of us picking, it didn't take long for the bag to be filled. It will take longer to figure out what to do with them all.


While they are spending a few days in the city, my cousins Suzan and Woody came down to visit with home grown pumpkin in toe. Ariana helped water it when we were visiting them on their farm in New Hampshire and they were kind enough to bring it down with them.


Ariana had a fine time drawing the face - it seems all of her faces look like Ampanman.
My job was to scoop out all of the gook and separate the seeds for roasting. They are drying off as I type.

While all of this was going on, baba san was being manly:
We do have a fireplace after all................

Random Things

Driving up to Connecticut with our EZ pass, we come through a tollbooth and for some reason, it doesn't read the pass. A policeman slowly and rather menacingly walks over and asks us for it. Sheepishly, Arny hands it over. The policeman, without changing expression or making a sound, takes it and rather violently whacks it against the gate a few times, until the gate rises. He then hands it back to Arny without a word.

Birthday Girl

We used Ariana's birthday as an opportunity to have some friends over. "Brave" was the way some responded, having people over to a house that was still being unpacked and worked on, but we know our friends don't care. Or, if they do, they are smart enough to keep their comments to themselves.

Ariana decided the decor, which was a combination of Lightning McQueen, Pokeman and the Care Bears - let's just say she has an eclectic nature. We (or should I say baba) splurged on an electric "Lighting McQueen" car, which Ariana took great pride in. Sharing was a challenge, but most of her little friends got to ride in it, if only for a second or two.


No child's party is complete without a pinata and while it was one of the Kinder and Gentler one with strings attached, so all the kids just pull one and the candy comes out, Ariana wanted the challenge of actually smashing it apart.

Afterwards, we had cake, which she and Molly enjoyed immensely, black icing and all.

The parents were slightly horrified, but after all, that's what makes a great party.

My Big Girl

We talked about getting on the big yellow school bus. Now that she was going to kindergarten, she was a big kid and big kids go on the bus with their friends. The first day, all three of us walked down to the bus and waited to see it come into view. We carefully crossed the street and met the driver, Tina, and was relieved at her big friendly smile. Ariana returned the smile as she got on and before I could say "bye" the doors closed and she was off. I turned away and there were tears in my eyes.

My big girl who still likes to be carried and needs help putting her socks on. Who still likes being fed sometimes and tucked into bed. Who loves riding in the cart at the store, preferably those huge ones with the little cars attached.

This big "little" girl who likes all those things, can confidently climb on a big yellow school bus without a tear.

Time flies, doesn't it?

Taking A Break

After almost of month of "guys" traipsing in and out of our house, we have decided to take a break. They will finish painting the upstairs early next week and then we will reclaim our house, if only to find the things that seem to be missing. A random shirt, my camera battery charger and cord (this is why there have been no pictures), etc. These things and more seemed to have fallen into one of the many boxes that have been opened and shut again in the mad search for what we need.

We want to unpack, organize and otherwise feel like this is a home. Which means unpacking books, hanging artwork and maybe even putting down a rug. And you can't do that with guys with heavy, dirty boots walking around - even if they are very considerate and clean up nicely after themselves.

So, the work will go on outside (painting the outside of the house), while we stay in, trying to get any site of cardboard to disappear. We have about two months to deal with the stuff we have before more arrives from the last of our storage facilities. Then, we will start all over again....what joy.

Ouchy

"Don't touch me!!" Ariana screamed at the nurse as she received the third of four vaccinations. Afterwards, walking out with four band-aids and lots of stickers, she looked up at baba san and I and said "that was not fun".

No.

It was not.

Swag

I have welcome swag.
From the Welcome Lady.
Apparently everyone who moves to our lovely little town gets a visit from Dee, a very friendly, very talkative lady who arrives at your house carrying a large picnic basket which she proceeds to unload, covering your table with a seemingly never ending supply of pamphlets, papers, magazines, business cards and gifts from local businesses who want your patronage.

She arrived yesterday just after the electricity went out (a whole other story), so we sat in the dark and heat while she gave us our voter registration cards, told us about parking in town and divulged information on just about every service in town by way of business card or coupon, often accompanied by a recollection of a personal experience with the service.

And gave us lots of refrigerator magnets, which Ariana proceeded to grab.
And a yard stick.
And a cup filled with pens and pencils.
And several jar openers.
And a t-shirt made out of bamboo.
And a packet of seeds.
And a trowel.
And a ruler.
And an empty paint can filled with candy.
And maps.
And a screwdriver.
And a calendar.
And a nail file.
And plant food.
And an ice cream scoop.
And a ruler.
And picture hooks.
And facial cleanser.
And shampoo/conditioner.
And many little notepads.
And a reusable bag for shopping.
And yet another ruler.
And a insulated coffee mug for dog walking or driving into town to visit one of the lovely establishments that have provided us with the one of the aforementioned items.

After reviewing every single piece of information with us over the next hour and a half (during which time the lights came back on) organizing and filing as she went along, she conveniently put all of the coupons into a plastic bag ("to keep in the car so you have them right with you!") and left us to wonder at what we should take advantage of first.

We now have certificates for free dinners at a couple of restaurants, free chocolate (mine!!), free lawn fertilizer, free plants, discounts off of spa treatments (also mine), a big discount at a hardware store (which we may use to buy a generator so we no longer have to suffer when the electricity goes out) free passes to museums and more information than I will ever be able to read.

Our Guys

The roof guy.
The molding guy. Who just happens to be the roof guy and we like him so much that we wish he did everything so we would only need one guy.
But he doesn't.
So, we have the plumber guy.
The tree guy.
The septic tank guy.
The phone guy.
The electric company guy. Who we don't like at all because he turned our electricity off because "I got things to do". (See below)
The cable guy. Actually two cable guys. Because we needed two visits because the office guys are dumb. But the technician guys are not.

It seems when you buy a house, you start collecting guys. Guys who will come to your house, tell you what is wrong (alot) and then tell you how much it is going to cost to fix it (alot).

Or, guys who come to hook something up and then tell you they can't.

Or, the guys that tell you they will be there between 10 and 12 and don't show up until 7.

Or, the guys that tell you they will come and never show up.

Or, bad guy guys who come to the house to turn off your electricity for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON and when you get on the phone with the company, and are put on hold for 15 minutes of torturous phone "music", they tell you they don't have time to wait around and pull the plug on the power.

While you are standing right there.

And then they leave.

Which leads you to spend many, many, many minutes listening to more torturous phone music trying to get someone to come out and fix it. Since you have a well for water, which requires electricity to get it to faucet level, you no longer have running water and because the promised "there by 7 guy" never shows up, you therefore end up spending the night at the house of the only family in town you know. Since they have also just moved in and are still waiting for their stuff to arrive, you are asked to bring your own sheets and towels. Which you think you can do until you realize the ones you have been using are in the washing machine. Which means you have to find more sheets in the hundred or so boxes that are littered around the house. Which means you end up finding the sheets that have been in storage for three years and take them, trying to blot the idea that you will be sleeping on sheets that have not been washed in three years.

Which leads you to wish you were back in Tokyo where these things just don't happen.

The Inquisition

Twice or three times a week, we cross the US - Canadian border. This involves interacting with immigration inspectors who quiz us on a variety of topics. Failure to answer may result in being asked to vacate your car and join them in a little room for, well, I'm not quite sure but I know it wouldn't be pleasant. Some of the guards are more inquisitive than others. So far, this is a sampling of the questions we have had to answer:

what is your citizenship? (this they ask as they are holding our US passports)
where do you live?
where are you going?
how long have you been in Canada (US)?
how long will you be there?
whose car is this?
why do you have your father's car?
does he know you are driving it?
(to Ariana) are these your real parents? (yes, I wanted to reach out of the car and strangle the inspector, who was a young, bright eyed blonde woman, but I didn't want to risk being arrested)
are you carrying anything in the car?
any guns, fireworks or liquor?
where were you born?
where are you staying?
what are your intentions here in Canada?

I can't say the US guards are any worse than the Canadian ones, it's more a question of personalities. Some are very laid back and the others are more militaristic. Either way, I'm always relieved when I make it to the other side.

Summer Vacation

With a very temperamental internet connection, I have decided to take the month off, returning to write when we are in our new house. Have a wonderful July all............