Yes, we made it home

Our trip to Maine was uneventful (fortunately) and the kids actually behaved in the back seat. It helped that we borrowed my sister's dvd system so 2 of the kids had video monitors in front of them and the third sat in the middle reading. We got a really late start going up (as in lunchtime instead of pre-dawn), but we made good time until 5 miles form the house. The traffic on Route 3 ground to a halt (all 3 cars) and we were detoured. The phrase "you can't get there from here" definitely applies. The fireman who was directing "traffic" had us going way out of our way. So dad went out to check on things from his end and found us a shorter way. A car and tractor trailer had collided (no injuries) and the truck's cargo was all over the road.

We got home to a yard full of wet leaves - our two maple trees finally dropped their leaves all at once. So I waited a few days for things to dry out so I could go mulch everything with the lawnmower. Then it snowed again on Sunday (lots of area churches cancelled services) and Monday morning we had ice. I may need to give in and find the rake.

The Husband is sick with a major cold or something. He's been sleeping on the couch so that I don't get it and it's bad enough that he claims that he's actually going to call the doctor tomorrow! Shock and awe!

I've been keeping busy trying to get ready for Christmas and doing some crafty stuff that I've been wanting to try. Yesterday I made my first batch of cold process soap. The hardest part was actually finding pure Lye - since it's used in the manufacture of meth it's difficult to come by locally. You can buy it online but since I didn't know if I'd enjoy soapmaking I didn't want to buy 5 lbs of it (I only needed 4 oz.). I finally tracked some down at a little hardware store. I'd take some pictures of the result but I can't find the camera...and I need it because it has our Christmas Card photo on it. Sighhh.