Long Overdue Update

I have not blogged in so long. Guess I have been really busy with work on the house, planning for the Lessey St house, teaching and counseling. Then 3 weeks ago I added gardening back into the mix as I began to clean up the yard in Shutesbury. So, blogging has gone by the wayside for a bit.

No new photos today but here's a few "snapshots":

House stuff:

The Shutesbury house is on the market. It has been shown 4 times plus a big realtors tour came thru. No offers yet.
:-( Hopefully soon.

The financing and other legal details on the Lessey St house are all set and we are moving towards a May 1 closing. I have begun planning out the projects to do there in May. Hopefully all the financial stuff will permit us to do what we need / want to before we move in.

I have booked a U-Haul for the first weekend in June to move the bulk of our stuff down to Amherst.

On other aspects of life's fronts:

Today I helped chaperone the eighth graders from Jess's class (about 100 kids all together I guess) on a field trip at UMass. It was a beautful day and a fun trip. Jess had done a great job planning it all. They were divided into small groups and rotated
around visiting labs (including Baird's Electronica lab) & art galleries, the greenhouses & student businesses, had a treasure hunt & ate lunch. After I had to leave they all went ice skating at the Mullins Ctr. I think they had a great time.

Jess passed her high school biology teacher's exam so now she is certified to teach both grades 5-8 general science and high school life sciences/biology (technically grades 5-12). She is interviewing for Summer jobs and will begin interviewing for Fall teaching jobs later this month. She wil complete her masters in June.

Ben is wrapping up his first year of a 2 years masters in education and working a bunch of part time jobs on campus (info technology stuff) and off campus (carpentry mostly).

Jess & Ben recently got 2 indoor rabbits, Peter & Mopsy. They are really cute and soft.

Aaron is wrapping up his first year at Umass. He's pretty into his sutainable living course and his bioterrorism course. He's taking a communciation course and Portuguese as well and has had a good semseter so far. He also works on campus at People's Market, an organic foods type student business, where Jess and Ben both worked when they were undergrads.

My mom's "companion" Conrad is still in the nursing home but after many months of tremendous spinal pain and immobility, he is now able to walk with a walker. Today my Mom took him out for a ride in her car. I think this is the first time he's been out in 11 months (except for a couple trips to the hospital). Amazing! He turns 92 on Saturday! We are having a little party for him.

On Sunday afternoon Jess and Ben and I will join our pastor, Sarah for a trip to a retreat in MD with author and pastor Brian McLaren with a focus on discussing issues rleated to the "emerging church." Should be an interesting and fun trip. I am really looking forward to it.

My neice, Karen, had a baby boy, Jackson, last week. Yeah!!

Well, that is it for me for tonight. Hope that gives you blog readers a little glimpse of our lives these days.