My family's journey down the road less traveled....

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Oh, those wonderful snowflakes...








It always amazes me how unprepared I am for the first snow of the season. It sneaks up on me so quickly. I try to prepare for it each year yet fail miserably. I'm referring to the emotional aspect of it all, not the bad roads and shoveling. Can there be an emotional perspective to snow? Maybe it's a reaction to the stress in my life or possible it could be the first glimpses of my fear of aging and mortality. Regardless of where it stems from, it produces the most amazing affect. It's during the first snow that this melancholy wave hits me. It's less of a classic sad state than wistful, actually. It's during the brief time when the first snowflakes are wafting down, till the moment the world is actually silenced by the weight of it all that I am able to completely appreciate my existence on Earth. In those fleeting moments it feels as if I've been able to hit the pause button on life and just breathe in it's beauty.



In a world obsessed with belonging, I get a moment of isolation.


Seems kinda deep for a gal like me and normally I would never imagine uttering these words aloud. Given the handful of folks who actually read this blog, I doubt I'll ever have to suffer and see the smirk of laughter on your faces. It is not my intention to go all philosophical on you, so let's chalk it up to a bad case of Christmas present wrapping trauma and never speak of it again!!







Monday, November 19, 2007

One in a million chance....

No doubt you'll be skeptical when I tell you I was sucked in by another black hole. Pesky little suckers, ODOT really should address the problem. At least throw a few orange barrels up to warn ya!! I digress. Many moons have past since my last post and the Patrick family has undergone several drastic changes, most importantly.....we bought a house!!

After months of grueling searching, looking at shack after cesspool, we found the winner. We spent the summer driving all over central Ohio looking at places. We saw homes with mold, bugs, green shag carpet, kinky torture rooms, open septic tanks, bare electrical wires and even stumbled across the carcass of a deer hanging in a garage. Needless to say, when we found our gem we pounced like well....um...something on something(I never was good at coming up with that kinda quip). Casa de Patrick is nestled on just over 2 acres in the middle of nowhere surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmland. Not paradise for many of you but we couldn't be happier.

I'd like to thank Will and his freakish boredom for the wonderful aerial shots.



I guess I should get on to the kiddies...all doing extremely well. Chloe is back homeschooling, she had enough public school to last her for a while. Currently in the 3rd grade and kicking ass!! Her recent aptitude tests scored well above grade level(again) and she's enjoying working at her own accelerated pace. She is a favorite among her fellow Girl Scouts and is a near prodigy at toilet humor!!

Grace just turned 7 and is in 1st grade. She has finally gotten over her shyness issue and blossomed into an amazingly weird kid. Her sense of humor is a nice mix of snarky and offbeat. She's growing like a weed and is only 2 inches shorter than Chloe and wearing the same size clothing. Usually dressed in all pink she can often be found in the garage pretending to haul ass in the go-kart or out climbing trees in the yard. Like I said, truly strange kid.

There's not much to be said about Elijah that the words, "exhausting little busybody" doesn't sum up! Now 4.5yrs old, he's on the go from the moment he wakes up! He's in heaven out here since tractors and trucks are always in view. He told me when he grows up he's going to be a farmer, have lots of cows and Daddy and I are going to help. Mmmm, okay...as long as I get to drive the combine!!



Mikey and I are doing well too. I've been busy juggling both girl's school work, Girl Scouts, the house and business but it has kept me out of trouble! Right now I'm spending my free time scouring design books and HGTV looking for redecorating ideas. Peg Leg is really taking off and hopefully by the first of the year we'll have a new line of products. It's been tough with the move and Michael being switched from 3rd to 2nd shift(both of which suck), to work on new designs. As I often remind myself, it comes little by little to those who have faith. I know where my faith is, I just keep losing my patience! I think it's at the bottom of my purse next to the lint covered cough drop.

Monday, May 21, 2007

When one door closes, another one opens.....



Please welcome Dagny Taggart to the family. She is a 2 yr old beagle we adopted from a local shelter. She was going by the name Bunny but since it sounded like a stripper's stage name, we changed it. And no, she doesn't know who John Galt is. The kids have taken to her and she has adapted well to the chaos we produce!!

We would also like introduce to you to Octopus the Cat. Mikey (aka the sucker) was conned into this little gal while purchasing a saw at a neighbors yard sale. I guess it could have been worse, the woman was hawking Avon, Tupperware, satelite TV service and Mary Kay!!
**We would like to acknowledge Elijah for his creative talents at naming Octopus the Cat.**

Monday, April 30, 2007

Nelson Muntz Patrick May 2006-April 29th, 2007


Nelson
Our adorable chewer of toys, licker of feet, destroyer of balls,
furry little bed warmer.
Your time with us was short but memorable.
Rest in peace buddy.
Love,
Michael, Deborah, Chloe, Grace and Elijah

Monday, April 23, 2007

Lost in a Black Hole



So there I was, walking down the street, minding my own business when I was suddenly sucked into a Black Hole!!! Imagine my surprise to realize that months had past while I was floating away trapped in that vortex of nothingness. Okay, so maybe I stretched the truth a little. You'll have to admit it's a much better excuse for not posting than "life got busy"etc... Let me catch up a bit: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine's Day,Happy St. Patrick's Day and Happy Easter. If I forgot something.....Happy "insert holiday here". Whew!!!

The Patrick household has been in a constant state of motion since the last post. We all had a great Christmas and New Year, got lots of goodies(Yay Santa!!) Chloe turned 8 in January and Elijah turned 4 in the beginning of April. Grace(still 6) is the best darned Girl Scout EVER!! Her school and speech therapy is coming along wonderfully. Chloe was able to be in the Highland High School's production of Oliver as an orphan in the workhouse. We always knew she was a drama queen, now we have proof!!

Michael finally started cutting up the Bug. He's decided to go with a Roadster look and has proceeded to COMPLETELY disassemble the car!!! With the Larry's bug show in a mere 7 weeks I am beginning to have my doubts that it'll make it. On a good note, Peg Leg Metalwerks has been productive. March has been our best grossing month to date, selling over a dozen extenders!!

I promise not to go MIA for so long again!! I'll do my best to avoid Black Holes, alien abductions, space-time continuums, the Bermuda Triangle, mugger bunnies with knives and wrinkles in time(oh, wait the last one was a book!!)
~Deborah