Just noticed with horror that the last entry to the blog was made in May … with some terrified blabberings about the last frost warnings etc …

Well, spring summer and soon fall will have come and gone, and not a single entry in the blog. I am just not sure I am made for blogging, tweeting, facebooking or all that other stuff people seem to be into …. and when I mean people, I mean my husband. Who thinks he is young and hip and blogging and tweeting and all … but doesn’t realize that, in order to maintain that image, actually should put down the little pointy stick that comes with is phone and instead use the qwerty keypad he just HAD TO HAVE when buying the phone …. using the little doohicky to type is NOT hip.

Anyway, as I said, last blob was about the last frost of last winter ….. the next one is about the first frost of THIS winter. ANd between those two entries lay only 4 months and change. That is depressing.

All these plans I had for doing some major work in my garden this summer … adding some beds, putting a little fence at teh edge of the septic field/lawn so my kids would not be eaten by the wild thorny bushes every time they have to go ‘down there to retrieve a lost soccer ball …. all did not happen. Heck, I barely managed to get in a couple of tomato plants and mulch the one bed near the lower garage. That’s it. I just couldn’t get off my butt this summer to do it … mainly because it feels summer is so short, you want to ‘waste’ yor time doing nothing. Ugh. Maybe next year.

Let me preface this blog by saying I really don’t mind living in Vermont. It is beautiful, green, though somewhat remote. But I don’t hate it hear. Except that sometimes I do.

So I have been waiting patiently for Memorial Day to arrive. Not because I am super patriotic (not even a US citizen ….) or because I am a sucker for Memorial Day Parades (though they are touching …).

No. I have been waiting patiently because I love to garden. Love it. Never thought I would, what with having grown up in an apartment building and all. But it is just simply the best form of relaxation for me. Nothing comes even close to it.

Being the avid gardener (not saying I am a master gardener, just saying that I love to do it), I follow all the rules. And the overriding rule when you live in a Zone 4 here in Vermont is DON’T PLANT ANYTHING BEFORE MEMORIAL DAY! And if you ever strolled through a garden center in early May up here, you would understand how hard that is for a gardener. Because come April, they will have all the lovely annuals and perennials and bushes and trees and all that stuff out on display (inside, mind you, they garden too apparently). So I have been walking through the isles for weeks now, salivating over the plants and saying to myself WAIT FOR MEMORIAL DAY WAIT FOR MEMORIAL DAY.

Why, you should ask? Well, up here in good old Vermont, we commonly have night frost until the end of May, which is typically when Memorial Day occurs. But of course, my single minded green brain did not look at the date, no no, just the big bold lettes on the calendar, saying MEMORIAL DAY last weekend.

So finally, I packed my youngest son (older one was off biking with daddy) and we went to buy flowers. It was great, he picked some for his little garden, we picked some veggies together, annuals, perennials, some tropical flowers for the patio ….

I spent all weekend planting and mulching and weeding and all …. and the go inside, dirty, tired but oh so satisfied that I could finally put those plants in …. and fall down into my comfy chair to watch the evening news … and the weather forecast …. AND ALMOST CRY …. FROST WARNING …… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Of course, it is only May 25 …. Memorial Day is early this year ….. and Mr. Frost seems to know that. So after all that work, I run into the basement and dig out every spare old sheet I can find and cover up all those containers and beds of still unplanted flowers etc. …… cover up the tomato plants in the bed, bring in the tropical plants in containers from the porch …… and wallow in self pity and question myself once again on my choice of calling Vermont home plate.

My mom in Germany had her marigolds out in late March ….. heck, she is probably already picking strawberries and tomatoes …… even in Boston they are light years ahead of us up here ……

But alas, Vermont is home and we have to deal with it. Frost came and went, flowers survived under their sheets and blankets … and I start counting the days until fall when I start covering again to prolong their lives for another week or so when the first frost of fall hits again … right around Labor Day …… argh.

Ok, fine …. maybe a bit obsessive …. so don’t look at it.

More Noah Goals from Sabine Chabot on Vimeo.

Ok, so I like to gloat since the soccer talent CLEARLY does not come from Noah’s eye/hand/foot coordination challenged dad. Along those lines, he already received written email praise from his Onkel Stefan in Germany who analyzed his form and is impressed. So there you go. More goals below. By the way, the little guy with the Number 8 and the killer pass is Kenny, who broke his arm JUST before first practice while … get this … practicing for practice at home. Too cute.

soccer game may 3, 2009 part 2 from Sabine Chabot on Vimeo.

Hello everyone -

after a long and cold winter season without much outdoors sports to write about (ok, so there is skiing but dad is in charge of that ….) soccer season has begun and the Camels Hump Soccer Club U8 had their first game this weekend. That is after their very first practice last Thursday.

I have to say, I am proud to say that some of the German soccer genes have been directly transferred to Noah, without the Chabot lack of hand eye foot coordination having any negative impact on it. Man, my dude rocks! I was so proud of him, not just for scoring 4 of the 5 goals in their 5-1 win, but also for not always just running after the ball with the rest of the crowd but actually playing position and for passing instead of always trying to get the goal himself.

I took some pix and also some video, but I still have not figured out how to post video … it won’t upload…. hmph … gotta check with my tech savy hubby …

Uh!Uh! I think I figured it out! I think this video thing will work now …… let’s see … 

Noah’s First Soccer Game from Sabine Chabot on Vimeo.

So we have all done it. Listening to the radio in the car, feeling secure that no one is listening to us, and here we go, singing along as loud as we can and, as the website www.kissthisguy.com proofs to all of us, often with the totally wrong lyrics.

I almost pee my pants everytime I check the RSS feed from this website since I am guilty of butchering 95% of all the lyrics listed there ….

Case in point REM, Losing My Religion … I did indeed think he was singing ‘I pee in the corner, I pee in the spotlight ….’ Hey it’s Michael what’s his name … you never know WHAT he does.

And I did think Elton John was asking ‘Hold me closer, Tony Danza’ …. And Aerosmith wanted you to ‘Do me like a lady’ …….

Check it out, it is really funny … and then think twice before you start singing along ….

Ok, so I am still in my mid winter no-blogging slump …. spending my time …. WORKING …. OMG …. can you imagine. But I have to admit, once in a while I do a quick detour through the YOuTUbe land  … and didn’t I come across this little gem …. I laughed so hard my already leaking bladder (two 10 lbs babies … don’t ask) was working overtime …. here it is.

 Hmmm … for some reason I can’t embed this thing … so click here to go to YOuTube and check it out.

I think the following pictures need no explanation … at least not if you are a parent. Let me explain to those of you whose only worry at Christmas is whether or not you get enough drinks from the open bar at your company christmas party: The worries of christmas change a bit once you have kids . Oh, I am not going to get all smushy and get into the it’s all about seeing those eyes shine with cheer on christmas morn. That is a topic I can only tackle after I recover a bit more from the frenzy that is christmas day in our house.

No, I am talking about the frenzy on christmas eve. When the ‘little ones’ are in bed, after having dutifully baked and decorated cookies with mom and leaving a carpet of flour all over the kitchen, just to disappear into thin air as soon as the last cookie sheet has been taken out of the oven (call me mommy when they are cooled down so I can try one ….). After they wrote their little letter to Santa (Kid: Dear Santa. Don’t forget the Wii! Parent: Oh Shit, I knew I forgot something …). After they placed the best cookie, some grapes and cheese (Hey, Santa must get sick of all the sweet stuff) on the Santa plate and some carrots and water (reindeer have to eat, too) on the porch. After we assured them for the 13th time that Santa will be able to come to our house EVEN THOUGH WE DON’T HAVE A CHIMNEY ….. and after we checked for the last time Santa’s progress on th NORAD Santa Tracker.

AFTER all that, when daddy flops his butt on the couch with a bottle of beer  … and mommy sits her but on the floor to start wrapping the dozens of presents. THAT is when the REAL worry starts.

Do they both have the same amount of presents? Should I sneek a peak into Grandma’s present to make sure that it is not another copy of the ‘Prodigal Son’ or ‘How to raise the difficult child’ (not kidding, both have happened). Where did I put that gift I bought two months ago on sale? I know I put it somewhere …. safe ….. Shoot, out of tape… again. Where are the tags? Did I get the thing they wanted most? Do they actually deserve all of these gifts ……

Well, and then, after I fall exhausted and with papercuts everywhere in the comfy chair, I realize once again, that I can’t wait for morning to come and see their shiny faces all excited. Hey, what can I say. I love my little tykes. And the big one, too. Who, by the way, managed to surprise me after 13 years of marriage by gifting me some candles for christmas …. you would have to know that he has a surprising and incurable fear of candles in the house …. yet, I got two for christmas. Ah. Gotta love christmas.

Below then are some pix … before, after and during the christmas paper shred fest. Happy Holidays Everyone!

One of the things that never fails to amaze me about working with seniors is that they will be able to provide you with most every recipe, ingredient, song title, TV show anecdote, etc. you will ever need to recreate your childhood. Things that have long since been eliminated from any modern mom’s brain by the automatic ‘make room for more crazy day to day things I need to stuff my brain with to function on a daily basis’ stuff’delete mechanism . Things like the recipe for salt dough ornaments.

Just the other day I was reminiscing with one of my senior residents about those home made Christmas ornaments we used to make when I was little and how I lost the recipe to make them. And what do you know, the next day I found a lovely little card in my office mailbox with the handwritten recipe. These are the moments that remind me why I love what I do for a living.

So, for those of you out there who also have been hunting for the recipe (not that I couldn’t have just googled it … but that somehow doesn’t feel the same …..) here it is:

 Ingredients:

• 4 cups of flour
• 1 cup of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of hot water
• Rolling pin
• Cookie cutters or cardboard templates
• Ribbon or raffia
• Clear acrylic varnish
• Acrylic paints (optional)
• Small brushes
• Toothpick, pencil or straw for creating hole in top of ornament

Directions:

Combine the water and salt in a bowl. Stir to dissolve some of the salt. Add the flour. Knead to form a dough. Roll the dough out to about ¼-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface.

Cut out the shapes using cookie cutters or by tracing around a cardboard template with a knife.

Pierce a hole in the top for threading with ribbon later.

Place the ornaments on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 300-degree F oven until dry. This will take about 50 minutes to an hour. The thicker the ornament, the longer it will take.

Remove the ornaments from the oven and cool.

Once cool they can be painted if desired. Varnish the ornament to help keep out moisture so the piece will last longer.

Thread a piece of ribbon through the hole and hang! Makes about 70 3-inch ornaments.

Ah Thanksgiving. The time for extended families to get together and gather around the turkey ….. unless you are part of the Chabot Family. Since we are currently in the ‘cut out of the will I am not talking to you’  rotation, we won’t see my mother in law for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Which, to be honest, is not a bad rotation to be in since it cuts down significantly on the emotional drama involved when we are on speaking terms.

Not to get into the details, but my personal history with my MIL has been rocky to say the least. I have gone from the “German hussy who married her son for the money and cheap sex” (I am not kidding you) and her not coming to our wedding or allowing me in her house for 3 years, to “she is the best thing that ever happened to my son”, to “she is the reason my son is turning away from his mother and, oh by the way, she has no idea how to raise her kids”. Needless to say the last one put me over the edge and we have, once again, been on non-speaking terms for the last year and a half or so. Oh, sooooo relaxing. Makes me mad thought that my kids miss out on their only ‘local’ grandma .. but that is a whole other post.

On the bright side though, my sister in law Amy and her son Andre were brave enough to weather the Theresa home visit for Thanksgiving (don’t know how she does it .. I would have to be permanently drunk for the entire visit to not start a blood bath) and on their way back they stopped by our house for an overnight visit.

It is so amazing to see how cousins, who don’t see each other for so long, jus kind of reconnect and pick up where they left … Benji and Noah were in Thomas the Tank Engine heaven for 24 hours straight. As if they were twins separated at birth. And Noah actually got Aunt Amy to watch NFL Network with her (you have to know Aunt Amy to understand the oddness of the situation :->), first thing Sunday morning, I come down the stairs and they are both snuggled under blankets in the armchairs watching NFL Network discussing Noah’s fantasy football strategy …. too funny.

It was hard to see them leave again, knowing that it will be a while until we get together again. Those are the moments when I miss my good old German family, where everyone lives 5 minutes away from each other and as much as you hate your relatives sometimes, it is good to know they are just a hop, skip and a jump away if you need them….

Anyways, here are some photos of the cousins in PJ’s ….. silly as usual.