Christmas Season

So it's that time of year. I'm a little excited about it. We've decorated around the apartment a bit and I've done most of my shopping. I'll be heading up north for the 1st time since the weddings this weekend and it'll be Jenn's first time north since we move down here. Looks like we'll be up the same weekend as the big family Christmas party. Unfortunately our family won't all be around. Katie and Charlie will be on their way back from Illinois that weekend. Well here are a few pics from around the apartment to show what we've got for decorations.

Fox News and Turkey Day

So for those of you who didn't see it on facebook Smiling Hill Farms was on FoxNews Monday with multiple live shots throughout the day. I have some links posted on my page so you can see it. I didn't realize at first that they were doing liveshots, I understood they were doing a story and were going to put it on later but I was on national news so that's cool.

I'm getting kind of anxious for Thanksgiving partly because it kicks off the Holidays which I am actually anxious for this year. Last year I could have gone without them but for some reason this year I'm a little excited. So to everyone hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Friday the 13th

So for about a week straight from Friday the 13th until this past Friday it was not what I would call a good time. It seemed that just about everything that could go bad did which made work quite stressful. I'm hoping that things are going to be better now with the upcoming holiday.

Meanwhile I still have to repair the rocker panels on my pickup which are rusted and need to be taken care of before VIP will put an inspection sticker on. Hopefully I can take care of that soon on my own so that I can get a sticker on before long.

Well I'm getting ready for the holidays which usually I can wait longer. Until next time.

WSJ

So in case some of you haven't noticed from my facebook posts, I Love the Wall Street Journal.
There are a number of reasons, they're a conservative paper, they cover everything about the markets and it's one of the only papers I can read and not get pissed about the letters to the editor/ editorials.

So I decided I would check out how much it costs for a year subscription. I figured it would be much less than buying individual papers, which are $2 each. Well for your first year it's just over $100. Which comes out to $2.29 a week, for 6 papers. That's crazy how much cheaper it is for a full year, almost like getting 5 free every week.

While I'm on the subject, today's edition has an article on the auction of Bernie Madoff's belongings. In the article it says that of over 200 items to be sold over 40 are expensive, designer watches. I only have 1 watch and it's put away so I only wear it on special occasions.

So anyway if you get a chance check this link. It's a girl I went to college with, one of my aggie friends. http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/7081507.html

That's all for now.

Election Day

I hope everyone who reads this went and voted. It's very important to let your voice be heard no matter what your beliefs. However, I'm hoping for a Conservative Revolt today across the country in both elections and the issues that are being voted upon.

Guess we'll have to wait and see.

Other than that, my pickup failed inspection and the estimate for repairs is over $2500 so I'm getting it taken care of somewhere else.

On a side note, Bob Schieffer is on the CBS national news tonight. I thought they fired him because of his craziness. He just said that the republican candidate in New York dropped out and threw her support behind Obama. I'm pretty sure the president is not running for the house of representatives. Crazy Old Bird.

Vermont part II

So I promised pictures with a little more info so here it is.

Jenn in a cow cutout at the Cabot Cheese Annex in Waterbury.
The cheese was about the same price here if not more than it is at Hannaford or Shaw's. They do have lots of free samples though so I would recommend the stop.



We also went to Ben and Jerry's.

This pic is on the door to the Men's rest room.









Jenn showing the love for the Ice Cream.













A pic with a few of the girls, they were everywhere.










We also went to Magic Hat. Jenn's Favorite beer is their not quite pale ale #9.





She had to have a picture taken with the tap in the sample room.
















We also went to the Lake Champlain Aquarium in Burlington. One of the people working there was a guy originally from Fort Kent. I graduated high school with his nephew.


One of Jenn's favorite paintings. It's by Warren Kimball.

These pictures were taken at the Shelburne Museum which was started by one of the sons and daughter-in-law of the people who started the Shelburne Farms. They have a lot of different things so everyone should check it out if they every find themselves in Burlington.
The people who started the museum were very big into hunting so they have a few buildings with paintings, pictures and taxidermy from hunting trips they took as well as some of their friends' trips. These are Brown Bears from Alaska.



View from the back porch of the Charlotte Winery and Vineyards. We did Wine tasting there and at the Shelburne vineyard.


Shelburne Farms has registered brown swiss for their milking herd. We saw their dry cows and heifers.
There was a young black angus bull in the pasture with them. I imagine he's just a cleaner bull.






This is one of the barns at the Shelburne Farms. It was built as a horse/ dairy farm in Shelburne VT. It was built in the late 1800's by Vanderbilt descendants.

This little guy managed to get loose and was following us around the area for a while. He had all sorts of nice green grass around him but choose to eat some dead leaves instead. Stupid Goats.



Jenn with the "barn" in the background. I can't imagine who built this for working with livestock.

Now they make cheese and have a bakery here along with a bunch of other things.

VT

So we just got back from Vermont. We went to Burlington, Shelburne and Waterbury. I'll post pics soon and type up a little more when I get a chance later in the week.
We went on a few tours and tastings, Magic Hat, Ben and Jerry's, 2 winery's and a chocolate factory. It was a pretty good vacation and we had a lot of fun. Our hotel was in Williston which is just outside Burlington and they had a deal with a local place called the Chef's Corner for breakfast which was very good. I got a pumpkin creme brulee for dessert that was delicious. More to come soon.

Homecoming

So we went to homecoming this weekend in Orono. It was pretty fun even though we only went up for Saturday. It was good seeing a bunch of the brothers that I haven't seen in a year or two. Tailgating this year sucked. It opened at 930 and the game started at noon, normally that wouldn't matter but the past two years they make everyone stop drinking when the game starts and that is pretty shitty. So I left when the game started and went to AGR.

Today we went grocery shopping and it was the first time I went to a Meathouse store. They had a bunch of really good free samples and their baked beans were delicious. Right behind the Meathouse in Scarborough is a wine outlet with some pretty good wines and a bunch of good deals on some of them. Today I made some butter and banana bread and Jenn made some delicious chocolate chip cookies and beef stroganoff. Until next time.

LOOOOOOOOOONG Time

So I've decided I'm going to start using my blog again. It's been quite a while since I last put anything so it's almost like starting a new one.

So I'm working at Smiling Hill Farms in Westbrook and Living in Gorham. Lately I've been learning more about canning and other cooking/ food preservation. I make my own butter and now I can make jams and jellies. I made some mint jelly, raspberry jam and blueberry/ raspberry jam.

Hunting Season is here so that will be taking some of my free time once I find a place to go down here.

Vermont

So I got back from Vermont yesterday late afternoon. Apparently they aren't joking when they say they've got hills, way more of them than Maine does. So I'm going to upload a couple of pics on here. The area around St. Albans was beautiful, the bay looked just like Kamouraska county in Quebec with farms everywhere leading up to the water. Also I just got a phone call this afternoon and Genex offered me a position just outside of Burlington. So I'm waiting to hear back from Smiling Hill and make a final decision so I can call everyone back tomorrow with my decision. I'm thinking it's probably going to be with Genex since a) it pays more, b) it has better benefits, c) there is more potential to move up in the company.

Job Fair

So Jenn and I went to the NH state job fair in Manchester today. They were expecting 3-5,000 people but had well over 10,000. There were so many people that they ended up closing the job fair. We had a few leads but I don't expect much if anything to come from it. There were a lot of insurance and financial advising companies looking to hire but it was all customer service/ sales reps so those are potential backups. Seeing some of the people there you could just tell that they were starting to get a little desperate in the look in their face. It was almost sad to see these people who had obviously been working at the same job for years and were suddenly laid off with now idea where to go or what to do.
However, Jenn received and accepted a job from Idexx in Westbrook, ME and I have my 2nd interview with Genex on the 15th, job location unknown. Tomorrow we head up to Ste. Agathe for a few days.
A Bientot.

No More Houlton

So we officially moved out yesterday. I was on the road by 9 am and Jenn got on the road at about 930. We went to Orono, unloaded my pickup, dropped off the dogs and got on the road. The poor cat looked miserable and just clung to my leg the whole ride. We ate at Chipotle's which is a mexican fast food restaurant in Newington, NH with Trevor and Lindsey and it was good. Jenn loves Chipotle, it's a chain, but I'm not overly excited about going there again. It's all "naturally raised" meat and so it's more expensive but not neccessarily better. I also got measured for Trevor and Lindsey's wedding while I was in the area. So now we are now in Nashua at Jenn's parent's place. Until next time.

Last Night

So tonight is my last night at work and then we finish packing and move everything over the next two days. It'll be pretty busy over the next few days with all of the moving and the job fair in NH. Well in less than a week we'll be in St. Agathe for a few days and then it'll be back south. Jenn won't stop talking about Chipotle's so I guess we'll be eating there on tuesday. Keep checking for updates.

Job Search

So some good news in the job searching, I have a second interview with Genex in a couple of weeks. If it all goes well then I will be leaving for training in Wisconsin on may 11. Jenn is waiting to hear more from Idexx but they called all of her references yesterday, as her refs called her to say they had been called. Also we brought 2 loads of stuff to Orono to put in storage until we find out where we will end up. Well we have one more week in Houlton and then we do some bouncing around for a while.
Until next time.

Moving

So we are leaving Houlton on the 7th of April. We will be in NH at Jenn's parents until the 10th at which point we will be heading back north to Ste. Agathe for Easter weekend and a few days the next week. Jenn's mother's birthday in on the 10th so we'll be celebrating that while we are down and Bonita and my memere's birthday is on Easter Sunday this year so when we are up north we will be able to celebrate again. On Easter Monday we'll be going to wing night at the Lakeview for the first time since last fall, it should be delicious. Then on the 15 th we will be in Lisbon house sitting for Jenn's pepere for a week. Well that's all I've got for now.

Long Time

So it's been a while but I've been really busy. As most of you know Jenn and I are moving to either Southern Maine or New Hampshire. There are a lot of reasons why but mainly there are better job opportunities for both of us to have decent jobs and it is closer to Jenn's parents which is something she really wants.
On tuesday I had an interview for southern Maine that went really well even though there isn't technically an opening right now. Jenn had an interview in Westbrook today and apparently it went quite well too. I'll try to keep everyone informed as much as possible and the next few weeks will be more hectic with moving and a more intense job search.

Orwell

I am a big fan of George Orwell, In fact for my birthday I bought a book that had both 1984 and Animal Farm in it. That being said I was drawn to a post on gop.com that had his name in the title. Of course it talked about Obama and newspeak. Although it does seem that he has been using some newspeak it seems to me more like some other things which Orwell discussed. One of them being "All animals are equal" which if you remember becomes "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others". Universal healthcare, Spread the wealth around, and taxing the "rich" all fit this quite well. Then in 1984 the main character worked in the Department of Truth. It was his job to essentially rewrite history so that things turn out exactley how the government wanted in the first place. ie. there was no pork in the stimulus package, something Obama himself said. Be weary and those of you not familiar with these books I recommend you read them.


In other affairs Jenn went down to the Mt. Washington Resort this weekend with her parents, of course I had to stay home and work. She was supposed to come back today but with the storm she's still at her parent's place. I'm anxious for her to come back soon. Also, I'm glad the storm moved fast and we got less than we were supposed to.

Taxing the "Rich"

How can you cut the Federal Deficit in half while simultaneously doubling it. Apparently Obama knows. Maybe he'll use some smoke and mirrors to show us how it can be done. He's also talking about increasing taxes on the "rich". This includes the capital gains tax which is paid by many people who are nowhere near rich. For those of you who don't know capital gains taxes are paid when you sell property, stocks, metals or bonds for more than you originally paid. So lets say you own a home which you paid $40,000 for a few decades ago and now you sell it for 125,000, you must pay taxes on the 85,000 more that you "earned". Obama wants to increase that tax by 5%. How many middle income families do you think would be affected when they try to sell their homes or cash in stocks and bonds for college, retirement and the like.

Don't Blame Me I Voted for McCain

Stimulus

Since everyone else is talking about it I may as well mention something. I believe something needs to be done however, I think that this is just way too much money. It also goes to too many pork projects and other things that have nothing to do with the economy or jobs, such as wildlife preservation and city parks. The only thing that the economy needs is a small boost, much like a person with a cold just needs to take in a little vitamin c pill. I support Sens. Collins and Snowe from Maine who worked to help the stimulus because they realized that something needed to be done and they did their best considering the circumstances. This doesn't mean that I support the stimulus 100% just that something needed to be done. The gov't can keep my $13 a week I don't need it that badly to put the nation is such a debt. With all of that let me leave you with something that says a lot for the vast difference between the two political parties.

Jesus Saves and Obama Spends.

Cats

So today we got an order of dog food delivered to the house. In the box were also some cat treats that Jenn had ordered. They're called Greenies and they had a special where you ordered three different flavors for the price of two. That's exactly what she did, however, they sent three of each of the three flavors by accident so we now have six free bags of cat treats which is awesome.

Speaking of cats, the feral neighborhood cats were out today in the present heat wave. Of course they were doing what cats do best, breeding. We only noticed because when we let the dogs out Bailey ran over toward them barking. It grossed Jenn out because all of this occurred right outside our window.
All of this brought back to mind the whole thought of cats being White Trash. They are prolific breeders who don't think of the consequences and don't seem to care because someone else will take care of the problem. Also, they have multiple partners and don't do anything all day except eat, sleep and lay around, all at someone else's expense.

The Big City

On Sunday my parents came down to visit for a few hours which was really nice. Becky and Dave stopped by too which I think made Jenn a little nervous because she thought that they were staying to eat but they just wanted to know where we lived and were on their way down to Bangor.
Jenn made her mother's pork tenderloin recipe which is delicious by the way and a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting that is really good.

We went to Bangor on Monday which was crazy because the Tourney is going on and it was President's day so there were a lot of people around. It was nice to get out of the County for a little while but I was exhausted because I worked on Sunday night. We ate at UNO's which has a lunch special with all the soup or salad you can eat with your meal which is nice since you can fill up on the soup or salad and take your meal home.

We also took the dogs to PetQuarters and Petco which was interesting because although Bailey was behaved for the most part Petco was packed and she wanted to visit with everyone there. Scout on the other hand was really excited and just wanted to play with the other dogs. I learned that when you bring pets into a pet store you have to watch them like a hawk because the store puts treats that they can easily eat on low shelves.

At the mall we ran into Sean White which was nice because now I know he is still alive and he said that he's finishing up his degree this semester which is really good. Founder's day April 25th.

Sick week

So I've had that virus that's been going around for the past couple of days which kept me in bed all day on thursday. Other if you didn't get it be happy because it was no fun. Because of it I hadn't been able to post for a while.

Well I went up north for a quick visit on tuesday since both Jenn and I had the day off. It was nice to go visit again even though we didn't have much time. I had some errands to run in Fort Kent and I went to eat lunch with Becky at a new restaurant in town called Scott's. It was pretty good and wicked cheap, only $5 for a sandwich, drink and salad. The desserts are really good too. I went to visit my aunt Bernadette and she seems to be doing better, I pray for her often.

On Wednesday Jenn made her first chicken stew and it was delicious. She had never heard of chicken stew before she moved up north, only chicken soup. For those of you who may not know what chicken stew is, it's like beef stew in consistentcy but with chicken instead. You have to cook the chicken first so that the meat falls apart into little pieces in the mixture.

Friday came and when I went to log onto my email that afternoon I wasn't allowed to. I called the help center at UMaine and was informed that they had deleted a list of emails most of which were alumni who were not up to date on paying their association dues. I informed him that I was up to date as they only come due in June and he reinstated me. I then called the Alumni Ass. to see why I had been put on the list and the woman whom I spoke to said that apparently the list was either put together hastily or someone didn't check the names because even her email had been deactivated. Jenn's had also been deactivated as we found out when she got home.

Well that's all for now. My parents are supposed to be coming tomorrow so maybe they'll give me something good to blog about.

My Weekend

Seeing as how Monday and Tuesday are my days off they are like my weekend. This being said, for my weekend I will be heading north with Jenn either Tuesday or Wednesday to visit some people since I haven't been up there in a month. I'm kind of anxious to go eat at Lakeview again, it's been a while and I'm missing good wings. Too bad we aren't going up today, it's all you can eat wings night. Which reminds me of something I heard not that long ago. Apparently Audrey and Ashley went to wing night with some of their friends and Audrey said, "So I know it's all you can eat wing night but can I get more plates if I eat it all?" That's what Ashley told me anyway.

Sunday marked the first KC meeting that I have attended here in Houlton. It was a small turnout but I got to find out the gist of the council here. Most of them seem to be men that are originally from the valley so that is pretty cool.

Well it's just after 9 am and that means time to sleep for a few hours .

Felicitations

So two of my friends are now engaged to each other. Jacques proposed to Dani on their trip to Quebec. Apparently it was at a St. Hubert which is the Quebec equivalent of KFC except better. The gravy there is some of the best I've ever had. Anyway a congratulations is in order for them. Another tidbit is that I actually introduced the two of them so I feel somewhat responsible for this. Now if only the other couple I help set up would get their things together.

Hockey
So I'm watching the UMaine UNH game and I'm not too impressed with my alma mater's hockey team right now but what can you do. I am however quite impressed with my niece's college Northeastern who is doing very good this season and hopefully they will win the Beanpot on Monday.

Night Shift

So I'm finally used to working the night shift. The only problem is I have a hard time to fall asleep on the nights that I don't work. But other than that everything seems to be fine because I sleep while Jenn is at work and she sleeps while I'm at work. Being on night shift I get to watch tv or read for most of the night between folding sheets, setting up breakfast and serving the occasional customer. With little on tv during the night I've found a show that I do like at 3am called REDEYE. It comes on Foxnews and is sort of a comedy with a political twist, they always have a comedian and a news contributor or foxnews host as guests. If you're ever up that early you should check it out, they also air repeats on sat. and sun. nights at midnight.

New Blog

So I decided to start a blog. Here goes nothing. I'll be posting whenever I think I have something worth sharing and will cover most everything in my life. Let me know what you think.