It is a sad time here in Vermont, although the sun has been shining for 3 straight days ( that is very unusual). The company I work for has announced their relocation plans, moving 110 jobs from Vermont to North Carolina. I am one of the few lucky ones that will stay in Vermont with a job. We will have a new little design studio all for ourselves. But I really think the spirit has been broken- the entreprenurial vision along with the "strong women" message has died and will be buried now under the redbuds, the only nice thing I can think of about North Carolina.

I'm sitting at work, imagining myself a. in the greenhouse, b. in Paris with Judy, c. anywhere else but here at my desk. Although the weatherman says cloudy with a chance of meatballs for the next 3 days, it is beautifully sunny. Maybe some of the TWO FEET of snow on my garden will disappear today. The little green plants are starting to show up in the greenhouse, but I'm getting worried that they'll have to wait too long to be put in the ground.

I have been reading Steven Covery's 7 habits because a friend of Jay's said it helped her through some difficult times at work, which I am experiencing. I am surprised at how humanistic the approach is, thinking in my mind that it was a hard-core business book. My favorite thing so far is the concept of visualization. What a revelation! I have been using visualization my whole life, but I have been visualizing the negative things instead of the positive! I haven't had a chance to use it in the new way, but I can't wait.

It is embarrasing how infrequently I have posted, considering all the thoughts I have been thinking about posting. Spring, for instance. I was really down in the dumps last week when everyone was in Barbados or Cancun or Venezuela, and I was here in grey town. But after 2 feet of lovely snow that makes you feel all surprised and amazed by weather, I am renewed and ready for a few more weeks of winter. I am thinking about flowers, though, and maybe that is why I feel all of a sudden happier.

Finally, it is light out when I get in my car to drive home from work. It just happened yesterday, all of a sudden. Now today I noticed tons more birds, and when I stepped out of the house, it smelled different, like earthy and yummy. Maybe it's all in my imagination, but I'm really looking forward to mud season.
We stopped getting the daily crappy newspaper for a while, but they called and asked us if we would accept 2 free weeks service to encourage us to reconsider. Now I know what has been missing from my daily life- the published time of the sunrise and the sunset. There must be somewhere I can find that on the web, so that I don't have to torture myself with bad opinionated writing. I will look later, when I have time.

Tonight is a full moon( that's funny, I just typed fool moon) which may explain why I and everyone around me it seems has been cranky today. I don't have any great insights into this phenomenon, but it does ring true to me that the moon makes you crazy. Also it is more likely a pregnant women will go into labor on a full moon, something about the gravitational pull. On one of the morning shows on Tuesday, they showed the birth of many babies live on TV. I can't imagine agreeing to that. It is really much more exciting when it is your own, though.

In an old issue of Preservation magazine, an article appeared by a woman who had found a pile of diaries from the late 1800's, written by a farm woman. She was fascinated by these short, not too descriptive entries, like "I done what I could, " and tried to recreate the woman's life. I laughed at the similarities to Gramma Pete's diaries, which often said things like, "Had a good wash," or "Pickled 8 qts of tomatoes today." I too have often thought of recreating the life and times in these diaries, but somehow I thought they were only interesting to me. Maybe I was wrong, maybe a really interesting story could be built around the entries. Maybe in my old age, I'll try it. Now try to contrast that style with the new diary style called bloggin', and it makes you wonder what those people thought about all day. Other than how they washed their clothes and linens by hand, without a washing machine, and dried them on a line outside, no matter what the weather. "A good wash" might take all day. Thank goodness for Maytag.

Ashcroft. I meant Ashcroft.

Gladiator. I've been thinking ever since I saw the movie Gladiator, about people who have that kind of charisma that inspires and exhilarates. There is an aura around these kind of people that you can almost see, and certainly can feel. Can I get some of that please? People who have it: Tom Peters, my friend Lisa who works for his wife, Leiberman, Oprah. People who don't have it: Bush, Atwater. Did he really think he could sneak that appointment in? I fantasized this morning that Gore would come to the swearing in and claim his right as the winner, but you know what? He doesn't have it either.

Still no names for the cat, although Slinky seems to be sticking with the girl. The boys and I were all home sick yesterday, so we got to watch her slink and slide around, trying to be invisible.
Yesterday I sat in one of the old wooden rockers from the porch up in Orange, and rocked and read by the intensely hot wood stove. I closed my eyes and could almost imagine myself sitting on the porch looking out down the hill and across to the horizon where that one tree pokes up above all the rest. Do I love the chair because of its ability to transport me there, or because it's really quite comfortable? Does it matter?
Before that lovely day, I was on a plane for 16 hours coming from a 48 hour visit to Amsterdam, with a cold. Amsterdam was cold and grey, just like (dare I say it again?) Vermont. I've decided I really don't like to shop, and I don't want to do it again.

Wow. It is a new year, and I have great intentions of making an intelligent post every day. As you can see from the date, I have not yet had an intelligent idea. I must still be recuperating from New Year's Eve. I'm sure most people have stopped reading anyway since I can't seem to say anything at all for months at a time. Anyway, we have two new adorable kittens, who are still nameless, a brother and sister. Dexter and DiDi? Boris and Natasha? Donny and Marie? The kids suggested Molly and Nigel in honor of our former cats, which would be easy for me, since I really called Molly Nigel most of the time. I hope they are leading a healthy fat cat life in cat heaven.

Last night I had a hard time sleeping. Thoughts of my Remy and our cat Molly who hasn't been seen for a full day now, jumbled around in my head. I also woke up with a stinging pain somewhere behind my right shoulder blade, one of those ones you can't quite pinpoint where the exact source of the pain is. Anyway, this morning Jay informed me that I was a bad partner during these wakeful times, that I was not considerate of the other sleeping person, that I snuffled, sighed, sneezed, and tossed. "Most people just lay there and try to sleep," he said. Now, I ask you, how does he know what most people do? When the kids can't sleep, they come in and tell us. Who are these other people whose sleeplessness habits he knows?

Work is taking up way too much of my time lately. And there are so many things to do at the farm, like get ready for Christmas, one of my favorite times of the year. Yes we have a very big tree, as usual, and once all our favorite ornaments are on it, I can't imagine a smaller one. The kids and I made some great new ornaments this year, gold pizzas with pepperoni or cheese.

Remy was the emcee at his school talent show last weekend, as well as doing his own comedy routine. He did a great job with very little practice. I've always known that oration would be one of his strengths, because of his verbal gifts. It was a very positive and I think, life changing experience for him. Here's an excerpt: " I love to read books. Here's a book question for you- if a book about failure doesn't sell, is it a success? I also love biology a lot but there's something that's been bothering me. Is a fly without wings called a walk? and here's another biology question. If a turtle has no shell, is he homeless or naked?" Okay he didn't write the jokes, but at 10, does it really matter?

I promise I will post tomorrow.

Weather again. Where is the damn sun? I've never felt like Vermont is as grey as they say, but this week I feel like it has never been sunny, ever. And I still feel bad. And there is still no definite winner.

Another grey rainy day. I guess that's November for ya. I'm trying to stay awake long enough to get all my work done so I can go home early. The flu or something has got me down.
Election: I'm thinking now that it really doesn't matter who finally is determined to be the winner. But I wonder how the decision can be determined impartially now. Both sides have got their dander up, and if the tables were turned, dander would be up in the same place, I bet. My solution is two years each. Historically, I had no idea the race in 1960 between JFK and Nixon was so close, winning by only 118,000 votes. I wonder if there was a recount? I suppose I could look into that, but I'm too tired and out of sorts to do it now.

A grey rainy day, and another reprieve from traveling. Last week I spent each night stringing red peppers, the long paprika kind, and hung them up to dry. Each day since, I wake up in the morning to a mound of moldy peppers on my table and floor underneath the ever smaller string. Maybe they are the wrong kind of peppers for stringing and drying. Obviously. But they do look pretty, and I'm going to try again with a little different technique.
Tomorrow is the day we decide whether we move out of Vermont or not. Get out and vote all you under 30 people. It's important!

Okay here is a link I know you'll like. I found it in my mag reading, which I find much more enjoyable than clicking. At this econcierge site you pay a monthly fee to be able to call them and ask an unlimited number of questions. They search the web and report back to you. It is truly decadent.

Election 2000. It is ugly here in Vermont. I've never felt so strongly opposed to a candidate. In fact I've never felt very strongly in any political race. On my way to work, a tractor in front of a rather upscale house is covered with what I perceive to be bigotry-laced slogans, but which are in fact just words and candidate names. I'm surprised at the reaction they arouse in me. I considered throwing tomatoes at the signs, but we are out of tomatoes. How about a nice rotten cabbage? I'm afraid for next Tuesday.
I was supposed to be in Amsterdam this weekend, but can you believe this, I left my passport at home, and do was unable to get on the plane. Stupid.

Halloween fun. Last night after trickortreating with the boys, we watched some of the Greenwich Village parade on TV. How odd, I thought, that this parade that used to be a cult event, is now a mainstream televised action packed celebrity hosted party! I would put a link to it, but I don't have time to look for one.
In this article about weblogs it describes what makes a good weblog. Again, the information age is passing me by. How does one have time to sift through the web and find interesting links? I'm still lucky if I have time to post once a week. I find the "mundane details" of my life to be pretty interesting to my readers ( mom and dad). So, anyway, Remy was a ghost and Jordan, of course, was a grim reaper with a 5 foot long scythe- we wouldn't let him take it to school though for their annual Pumpkin Man parade. Remy actually shared some tidbits of their classroom party, where 4 girls were dressed as the Spice Girls and sang songs and danced to a tape. The whole classroom danced with them, even their teacher, Cher (great name).