Halloween 2013

A rainy and damp night in Fairfield Maine...probably the first rain we have had in several weeks actually....it has been dry lately.

One of the first years we didnt run out of candy either...I think the rain held a lot of people at bay and we definitely didnt get as many trick or treaters as we usually get....

Next year, when it is on a Friday, I think it will be a big night!!

Maira and Callum wanted to go out early to 'beat all the bigger kids with the scarier costumes,' so we went out around 530 or so and went to the Shores,' the Cyr's, the Greenlaw's, and several others. Gross how much candy the kids got!

My favorite part is always handing the candy out and seeing all the different costumes. Tonight, since it was raining, I set up shop in the garage and listened to "All Things Considered" while all the freeloaders came up. As usual, any kid over the age of 15 who wasnt dressed up and still was looking for candy got a ration of crap from me. #shadesofGranTorinooldguy #idontcareanymore

Here are the kids....

Maira originally wanted to be a kitty...followed by a princess...followed by a piece of candy corn (if you look on the bench you can see the candy corn dress Sally sewed) and then back to a kitty. Callum went from wanting to be Superman to Batman to a candycane to an Elf to 'The Elf on the Shelf." As usual, Amanda made both costumes.....

a little tail.....

1000th POST!!!!!

This is the one thousandth blog I have written.....thanks to everyone who reads and comments and checks in as I try to chronicle the lives we lead up in Maine. As people who know me may know, I have/keep Facebook almost exclusively to make...well...a mockery of Facebook. I rarely, if ever, post anything real on there. And for good reason. This blog, however, is where I share our lives with all of you. So thanks for reading! And I hope that, if you do, you enjoy what you see. I hope that as I continue this blog I can continue to chronicle our family in such a way that Maira and Callum can someday look back and read through the events of their entire lives, as this blog was started before Callum was even born. I was trying to think of what to write for our 'special 1K post,' but I feel like every post we do is special, because it is genuine (for the most part...often I just piss and moan and complain about people and things...haha).

We had a Halloween party for the kids last weekend and HOPEFULLY George will send us his pics soon!! And my XC girl's team qualified for the state championship this coming Saturday!! And we had two boys qualify individually. So the ending of that season is upon us. Weather has been cooooool and gray and overcast...just the type of fall weather that, to me, archetypes the fall season.

See? Nothing special. Just your run of the mill 1000th post. Thanks for sticking with us. I love living in Maine, but, although many would not believe this, I have a lot of trouble living here too. My family and friends are away, and that causes a lot of pain for me sometimes. This is just a small way of trying to keep in touch.

If you are interested, here is the first 'real' blog entry we did. Wow. Years fly by:

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Father's Day Weekend Cookout

What a great weekend to be with family! Hank the Crank and Babs came up Friday afternoon, followed by Kristin, Anthony, and Chelsea a few hours later. Friday night we went to Asian Cafe and I (Jared) tried soft shell crab . . .very interesting. Saturday was a gluttony festival, as we had Antwon's special stuffed mushrooms, George's shrimp, Lt. Dan's pickled Polish saaauuuusage made by yours truly, and plenty of cheese and crackers. For the main entree, we had marinated steak tits by Hank, marinated vegetables by Georgeth, and I made Chicken Spiedies. Sally Piles made her famous canoli cake for dessert--always fantastic. It was so great to have everyone together (we missed you Mom, Bob, Grandmom, and Grandpop) and have people stay at our house for the weekend. Every spare room had people sleeping in them--well, mostly sleeping. Anthony made his "mixed" drinks, which aren't really mixed, since they are mostly alcohol with a splash of juice. Babs walked Chelsea around the yard at 5, 5:15, 5:20, 5:22, and 5:45. Thomas P. and his cousin Chelsea got along and even shared a couple of naps--not to mention donuts. The pictures above show Dad in his party-shirt drinking alcohol for the first time since we went to Disney World when I was in the second grade. Then, Antwon and I went for a big gay bike ride around the neighborhood. He is so hot! Kristin, Anthony, and Chelsea posed --what a cute family. And the last picture is of Lynne, George, and Sally. We're glad Lynne will be around more now that she moved back to Mt. Vernon from Portland . . .Some other hi-lights include Dad's stool, Barbara's tea, Chelsea and Thomas eating munchkins, George getting lit up, and Anthony and Nacho (Mel) making a "video" together . . . .a true blessing to all be together

World....yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn.....Series

Here, first, is just one of approximately 861 things more interesting than baseball: Making crafts! There was some 'kidfest' at Inland Hospital a few weeks ago, and Home Depot was there giving away wooden models for kids to build with their parents--the things were legit, and had just blocks of wood that had to be drilled, nailed, assembled, etc. Perhaps they wanted or needed you to buy their tools....

Maira picked out a plane and Callum picked out a truck. We put them together down in the basement 'workshop' and then we let the kids paint them....

A very 'Monet' kind of brushstroke, no?

Callum's truck was super fun because it involved lots of drilling and nailing....we had to position the wheels correctly....etc. I think Callum will be really into building models, etc.....I was into them, briefly, as a child...but I was never much good. Callum inherits his engineer's mind from Thaim.

World Series starts tonight right at Fenway Park. I love all Boston Sports teams (except the Celtics, cuz basketball is wicked stupid) and all, but, sadly, I have lost all interest in baseball as a hole. Nothing against the sox. It is just the sport. I think that since I have been more into endurance types of sports like running and bicycling, I crave faster and more energetic sports. Oh well. Good luck sox.

Here is something I heard on the radio this PM--a discussion involving the worst sports rules of all time. The hosts were saying that the fact that the world series home field advantage is decided by the all star game  is wicked lame. Yes it is. But you know what would help make baseball a more exciting (and faster moving) sport? Two foul balls and you are out. Simple. I hate when these pitchers and batters get in these 'duels' where a batter will foul off 8 foul balls and 'keep themselves alive' or whatever. Where and when and why did this rule come into existence, that you could foul off as many balls as you want and not be out? How is this like anything else in the world of sports or the real world? If you cant hit the ball straight, then the pitcher is better than you because you cant adjust to his location or velocity. You're out. In tennis, do players get unlimited chances to 'start over' and not be penalized points if they hit the ball out of bounds? In basketball, if the ball goes off the court do they say 'congrats! you have kept yourself alive! here is the ball again. try to shoot again?' No. Stupid rule. Get rid of it.

Coach Callum

Callum's entire five year lifespan had, apparently, been leading up to this weekend because he got to ride the bus with the XC team to the KVAC (Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference) championship meet (our girls got third place!). On Friday night, CS and I went over to (other) Coach Chris' house for the team pasta dinner. Callum had A BLAST playing Batman, piano, and 'Tom Brady' (this is what Callum calls 'tackling') with people like Logan and Audrey. 

Also, Callum has, I think, his first 'crush,' and it is very cute, because it is on Audrey, our senior captain and a girl I have in class this year. Callum says to me on the way to the dinner "Daddy, is Audrey going to be there?" I said YES SHE IS. "I reaaaalllllly like Audrey....she has a reallllly pretty face Daddy," he tells me. "But PLEASE dont tell her I said that. You can tell the whole team but dont tell her!!" Obviously, Audrey was tickled by this, and she was very sweet to Callum. That night, after the dinner, he got RIGHT to work (his own idea...no one suggested it) making Audrey some pictures for the next day's race. On the left, you can see a picture of Audrey and Callum jumping together on a trampoline...along with a HAPPY EASTER sticker in the middle. On the OTHER sides of both of these pieces of paper there are spider webs Callum drew for her. On the right, one can see,, again, Callum and Audrey together, along with a picture of Arthur and DW from those famous books....

Callum was ELATED to ride the bus along with the team. The team made him the day's 'honorary coach' and he wore his coaches hat and his tiger shirt because 'tigers are WICKED fast.' The meet was down in Augusta at Cony HS--probably one of my favorite courses (the kids hate it though because it is very hilly!)

Saturday races are tough because, well, they are on Saturdays and they take up most of the day AND they leave early in the AM.. However, I also really love Saturday races, because of the fact that they are so early and it is great to get the team all together first thing and enjoy the morning. The girl flashing the peace sign is Joanne--the world famous Conner Bourgoiin's lil' sister....she is a fantastique runner....

One of the things we do at every race is 'walk the course,' where we, well, walk the entire course (3.1 mighles). This is done to acquaint ourselves with the terrain...go over strategy...see the hills and the mud...and warm up a little. CS got to walk (and jog) the entire course with the team, and he was a MONSTER on running up the hills. Below, he stops to pose with his buddy Logan (Ethan, a rookie runner and great kid) is right beside Logan....

A great race. Very warm. Last year Mios, Jawn, and Zin came up. Missed them this year. But I was looking at pictures from last year, and it was FREEEEEZING out. I was donning my patriots stoquing cap. And we had a fyre in the wood stophve. Not so this year. They were Nannie temperatures (mid 60s). Been a warm phall actually!

Today after church, the Patriots got robbed by the NFL/Jets and the Goldsmiths went and did "Colby Hills" (a popular XC workout) and some hiking around the trails at Colby College. As per usual, we collected enough leaves to fill a scarecrow (we made one of those too). Very windy, bright, mild day. Going on the last week of Oct, and still not ONE FIRE in the stove!!

The saddest store of all time?

I think so.......

Driving home from Mass a couple of weeks ago we passed this on Rt 1 in Saugus. What a tragic, tragic place to work. Sorry. But really. True, every person in the world needs both of these things, but what a completely uninspiring store, huh? I mean, even the 4C company, when they realized all.. they. did. was. breadcrumbs. decided to add some flair to their lives by making iced tea as well (they could use the same containers). Cant they be "Batteries + Bulbs + Nachos" or "Batteries +Bulbs+hot chicks" or something?? Even "Batteries + Bulbs+ pens" might be better. 

Can you imagine the poor folks who work there? What do they do for fun when there is no one in the store? What possible fun can you have with batteries? And the type of people they see! The only people who go in there are people who experienced something in their lives that has either broken or failed or died. No one goes into this store to 'browse,' right? This store is a run-out-the-clock operation for sure. No one wants to stay and chat or hang out or meander around. I imagine that everyone who walks through that sad sad door has a mission/immediate question/immediate need...gets what they need...pays....and leaves, rendering the poor Batteries+Bulbs clerk going *sigh* once again, as they slip deeper and deeper into depression. 

Perhaps the worst thing in the entire world wouldnt be to 'work' at Batteries and Bulbs, but to be FIRED from Batteries and Bulbs

Do they offer gift certificates? So, so, so sad. But so necessary. This is the gift to get for someone you loathe. The most un-fun gift of all time. It is like giving tighty-whities....on crack. 

And around the holidays??? Forget it. As a clerk of Batteries and Bulbs you are merely the conveyance of the 'nuisance' component of whatever trendy, stupid gift some idiot is buying. Not only do you have to search for some arcane battery requested from some iphone-princess, but also you have to hear the story/complaint about how whatever device she bought 'didnt come with batteries' or 'takes some weirdo battery' and 'I cant believe they even make things that need batteries anymore....why cant everything be wireless' and stuff. 

*sigh*

The clerk slips deeper and deeper and deeper into sadness.....

And then there are predicted storms!! When everyone needs double As (not A's.....go study grammar) for their cute little flashlights.....

Oh man, I am depressing myself just writing this. 

What a sad, sad store.....

Moving right along through autumn....

Columbus Day Weekend is here and gone already....tomorrow is the 15th of the month. Crazy. Three more XC meets to go, and the season is over. It 'feels' like fall but also does not because, I think, of two major things:
a. It has not really been that cold yet....in fact, temps each day are in the 60s or even 70s...we
   not had a wood fire yet....I have not even brought in the cord of wood I usually keep in the
   garage--the one we 'start' with that I usually bring in this time of year to keep totally dry
b. Amanda has not made one Swedish apple pie OR apple crisp....

But, I would say, this weekend is probably peak weekend for color. The sugar maple is turning a brownish yellow, and, I think, the red oak will be a stark red in about four days or so...

Aunt June and Bob were up this weekend from NJ to hang blinds for grandpop...Amanda and the kids made a few trips over to see them...yesterday I stayed here to watch perhaps the most exciting Patriots game in years! With about 1 minute left in the game Brady started a drive that would score the winning TD with 4 seconds to spare!!!

Here is what 'pre-bedtime' looks like on our house.....reading books and stuff....in the old roquing chair....

Amanda is very pretty, dont you think? Also, I love the picture below because of both Callum and Maira's smiles. Callum looks so serious and focused. And Maira LOOKS like she is maquing a face...but she is not. This is why this is so funny. This is her 'camera smile.' In fact, yesterday, after church, we had our 'church directory' family photos taken by Don, one of the members of the congregation. He kept saying to Maira "now come on honey...dont make funny faces..." and I had to tell him that this is how she really smiles...it was kind of phunny.

And Callum adn some of his books. The kids have a ton of books, and we love this. I used to try to organize them (who, me???) but then Amanda, Callum, and Maira would just pull they off the pshelph and I decided it was not worth it anymo'

One cool thing we did yesterday was go for a small hike on the trails on the campus of Colby College. I run there with the XC team often, and, each time, I always think of how much the kids would love some of this terrain. Colby is only about 3 miles away from our house, and there are some awesome trails with bridges, streams, stone stops, and more. One of the things the kids love is when we put together a 'scavenger hunt' list for them to find on our hike...things like a red leaf, a yellow leaf, a bridge, a mushroom growing in the soil....and then we put some hard things on the list as well like a live squirrel, a four leaf clover, MeeMee without a health ailment, and a velocipede....

Callum 'chucks wood....

We went down to LN Violette down the street....they are the company that actually built our house.  They always have kindling wood from remnants of what they have cut, etc. This time, Andy had a bunch of thin pine squares--almost like shingles or something. Callum has done the whole box himself.....

Government Shutdown

I cant wait to see the fallout from this.....especially with the National Park Service....what a bunch of dinkuses, huh? Telling Americans that they cant go to their national parks is perhaps like me buying a pair of pants from KMart....and then KMart goes out of business....and I am no longer allowed to wear those pants anymore....

The US government is 'out of business' and 'they are closed' and shutdown. That is what they say. Their words. Then, essentially, they ARE saying that the government is a 'business.' That being said, since we live in a capitalistic culture....and the whole 'free market' model is advertised and encouraged, does it then follow that 'we dont have to shop there' so-to-speak? Obviously, this is a ridiculous statement to make....but I am just using the United States' OWN logic here.

Absolutely ridiculous. I could go on and on.....but I wont. Facebook and conservative talking heads and all these other people are going on and on about the unfairness and stupidity of this. But I was just thinking of the two things above, and wanted to chime in.


And here are four things that are better than our government:

Two goonballs playing dressup and being all crazy-silly.....(Callum is dressed up like his dad, in case you like symbolism)

Callum is really good with little kids!! Here, at the sprinkle last weekend, he is playing with Adriella, my cousin Kelley's little girl, who is two. He gets a kick out of babies and little people. And small dogs.

My dad, Callum, and Uncle Allan, my dad's brother. I have seen Uncle Allan probably twice in the last ten years. As kids, we would go down to Uncle Allan and Aunt Ellie's place in Hingham and go to the beach...but we dont see them a lot, so it was great to be able to see them at the party.....

And three Goldsmiths........who do I look like??

"Sprinkle"

Cute name, isnt it? A 'sprinkle' in 'Rouseish' is a 'small shower' given to a person, like my sister, who already had a baby shower for her first child (boy) but is now due with her second child (girl). I call a 'Sprinkle' a fun way to see lots of family I never get to see!

Originally, there was no way I was going to make it down for this, but, thanks to my co-coach Chris, who is awesome, I was able to figure out a way to miss one of our biggest races of the year so I could come down. The omens were not good, however, as on the way down we stopped for dinner at Wendy's in Tewksbury MA and, when we went to leave, we realized we were broken down because our starter blew.....fun times. 

But we made it down on Friday night, late, and on Saturday I had a nice run through the backroads of the Myles Standish Industrial Park, etc. Then I went to Dunkin Donuts for an iced FV reggy, and all was right with the world. HOWEVER, this was the first Mass visit in a LONG TIME that I did NOT hit up my favorite Honey Dew!! FOR SHAME!!!

I got to see some of my favorite family members, like my cousins Ally and Lauren. We all share a special bond as we all spent a lot of time together as kids--Kris and I would sleep over and spend time at their place down in Plymouth. Lauren and her husband Arty just had twins, and it was great to meet the two new beauties!

Auntie KK opened up her babygirl gifts while Jackson and Callum helped out. It was pure joy watching Callum and Jackson play together--they were inseparable all day long and are just classic 'boys' in the way they run around and chase and wrestle and wreak havoc together. I love watching them have a great time!

And obviously I got to see Anth, which is always fun. Although this time we didnt get spend a lot of time hanging out cuz he was busy making a cute little antipasto syalad thingy.....

Before this weekend, I cannot remember (honestly) the last time I saw my dad. It was probably May or so when we were down. Or July or something. Either way it has been a while. I just like my dad to see my kids. Both Callum and Maira are not 'phone people,' and they dont like talking that much on the phone (like me I guess!). So 'in person' stuff is always better. And Papa's cane never ever goes out of favor as the favorite toy of all three of the kids! Also, we are noticing that Callum is coming out of his shell more in terms of getting his picture taken. Before, he was petrified to have it done...now he is pretty cool with it....

My Auntie Pat--my mom's "Irish twin"and mother of Lauren, Ally, and Brian. Brian wasnt there, but his wife Jess was--and THEY both had twins as well!! So, in the span of a few months, my Aunt Pat went from being grandmother of one little girl to grandmother of one little girl and TWO sets of twins! Crazy huh?

The big hit of the day for Ms Maira was seeing all the babies around--the one in KK's belly....Jess and Brian's twins...and Lauren and Arty's twins. Below, she helps 'take care' of the babies with Lauren. Look at her classic smile. And look at the bag of candy she is carrying around--she didnt eat ANY of it...she just wanted to carry it around all day. Hilarious.

And three generations of Goldsmith men....all in one place! Dont know what Callum is pouting about. Probably wanted another cupcake....