Of homes and phones

If you get a random call from an (845) number don't ignore it, it's probably us calling from our new old rotary phone. We recently got cable tv installed after years without it. Part of the package was a land line which we do not want or need. But they gave it to us anyway even though we don't even own a phone. So I went down to the local antique store and bought this beauty. If you email me I'll give you the number but there is no answering machine so if we are not home it will just ring like the good old days.

Last summer we stopped in at the Telephone Museum in Ellsworth Maine which has all sorts of historic telephones, switchboards, etc. and they all work. Graham really got a kick out of calling people on the old phones they have there. He is equally tickled when we use our very own rotary phone to call people.

Look what I made!!!!

I made this 7 foot table for our kitchen and finished it today so we can eat on it tonight. So excited! This is one of the final pieces in the puzzle of fixing up our kitchen. Next up: butcher block countertops and backsplash.

I made this table from 3/4" plywood which I sanded and stained, then coated with a polyacrylic. I bought the powder-coated steel legs from a table leg maker and screwed them in to the underside.

Today was quite a banner day. We got the green light from the Building Dept. to continue work on our deck, we got cable installed so we can watch post-season baseball, I finished the table so we can eat in our kitchen now. Hooray!

Birthday Season

September begins a season of birthdays in our house beginning with Liam Goodman's on Sept 17th. Yesterday was a totally manic day with Graham's packed activity schedule-piano lesson and soccer practice after school but with a little pre-planning we were able to have a nice celebration at home last night. Here he is blowing out his candles. Just in case you were wondering, there is only one place to get birthday candles in Beacon and it in NOT the drug store. I had to find this out the hard way by making several stops yesterday. 

Next up is mom's birthday tomorrow. Then comes Graham on Oct 12. I recently purged a lot of Graham's baby (or baby-ish) toys but I then realized he has very few toys left to play with indoors. We have lots of sports equipment but not many toys for a 6 year old and winter is coming folks! Graham would like you to know he likes Legos, especially Star Wars legos, Harry Potter Legos and Chima Legos.  ;-}

October is chock-full of Goodman-Post birthdays. Let me know what you want for your big day!

1st grade-yes we can

Right before we got out of the car this morning outside of school Graham squeeked a tiny little "I'm scared". By the time I picked him up he was all smiles and said he had a great day.

Here he is on the morning before his first day of 1st grade:

1st grade-is this possible?

Tomorrow morning this kid starts his first day of public school-1st grade at JV Forrestal Elementary in Beacon. I can't really truly believe it and it gets me a little emotional thinking about sending him off into the world like this. When he went to kindergarten it was at the same Montessori school he had spent his pre-K year with the same teachers and most of the same classmates. But this is public school now, a whole new setting. A game changer. After the safety of his sweet little private school this is public school we are committing to. I have the utmost confidence in his abilities-he can read like a third grader and asks me to call out math problems to him while we are riding in the car so I know he will do fine academically. Will he make friends? Will he like it? I am not freaking out.....

Our summer in photos

This summer has been an exceptionally busy one. We spent 2 weeks in Maine, made a trip to the Adirondaks, another trip to Cape Cod, had our kitchen renovated (still in progress), Graham went to 2 baseball camps and 2 weeks of farm camp. Now we are counting down the days until first grade begins (Sept 4). With all this running around and living without some of our usual luxuries like air conditioning in my office, I have been slack about keeping up the blog but here i sit in my new kitchen ready to keep you updated with the best photos my iphone will take. This time with captions! Enjoy.

We've gone to several Hudson Valley Renegades games this summer, our local minor league team. Graham got a ball from one of the players. Here he is on the field after a game. 

On our way home from Maine we went to a Portland SeaDogs game which was a bit cold, rainy and a dull game.  

Our kitchen reno as of about a month ago. Accent wall is painted, new cabinets are in but old flooring is still there. 

This is what new bamboo flooring looks like.

Deck in progress. Should be completed in the next few weeks. 

Morning in the Adirondacks. I think they were concentrating on a game, not staring blankly into space. 

Sing along at farm camp

Cape Cod trip with the Terry family of San Anselmo, CA. Graham and Isaac chillaxin on the beach. 

Graham and Isaac in a friendly light saber fight. Star Wars jokes are big with these kids. "What do you call it when Darth Vader serves food? Darth Waiter!"

Johnathan Terry aka Jive Turkey aka JT

Carrie aka Care Bear

G masters another sport

The Cyclist and the Slugger

Our last morning on the Cape spent at an I-Hop in Yarmouth before the brutal 7 hour drive home.  It should have been a 4 hour drive but summer traffic had other plans for us. 

Back in Beacon, another summer night...

Graham at the riverfront in Beacon

We discovered a wonderful place to go canoe-ing near our house called Stillwater Lake. 

Silly kid at the Met in NYC. Our water was turned off yesterday so our contractor could install the new washer in the basement. Graham and I decided to skip town rather than pee outside all day :-)

My cherry tomatoes have gone crazy this summer with an unbelievable bounty.  Every day I pick at least a pint, usually more. Friends and neighbors have been very lucky. 

2 weeks in Maine