Wherever You Find Love, It Feels Like Christmas!

It's been two years since we sent out Christmas cards and so much has happened since then! 2009 was filled with a bit of disappointment as our plans to take over and run a motel on the Washington coast fell through and we found ourselves temporarily setting aside our dreams while we regroup and work towards it in the future.

Kris also had a physical setback in December of 2009, shattering his arm and totaling his car in a car accident. We were attending our dear friend's wedding in Leavenworth WA, (Kris was even performing the ceremony) and on the morning of the wedding, he and the groom were struck by a pickup. Kris broke a couple of ribs and his upper right arm in six places and his friend Rob suffered broken ribs and a back injury. Despite the accident, we were able to celebrate their vows, just a day late and heavily drugged.

There wasn't much time to rest on our laurels upon returning to Idaho either. After much discussion, we decided to accept a move with Walgreens, where Kris works. They were expanding into the state of Maine and were looking for transfers. So Lindsay single handedly packed the house and in January, we left it and our kids in the loving and capable hands of Kris' mom and brother while we flew out to Portland Maine!

    For a couple of months, we lived in a little motel room and Lindsay worked on her novel and did lots of cross-stitching. Kris, who was unable to work in the stores because of his broken arm, worked in the district office as the district administrator.

    Finally, after too long without our pets and a place of our own, we rented a trailer home in the nearby town of Topsham (Pronounced Tops-uhm) and flew back to Idaho, where we bought a new Element, a reddish orange one we named Stormalong. Rich built us a clever little sleeping platform in the back of the car and we stuffed everything we would need in Maine underneath and the dogs and cats above and hit the road to our new home, 3,000 miles away!

    Currently, we are still living in the trailer in rural Topsham, where we've built a screened in porch to watch the cardinals and wild turkeys that play in our backyard. Lindsay is working as night auditor for The Captain Daniel Stone Inn and Kris is an Executive Assistant Manager for Walgreens in Portland ME, which is about 35 minutes away. It's also the only drug store in the nation that sells live lobsters, which Kris is in charge of.

    We're also involved in other side projects, both working on novels, which will be published later in 2011 and Kris is selling stickers and sculptures online in an Etsy shop called Deeply Dapper.

    Maine is an interesting place, both far different and strikingly similar to Idaho in many ways. We love the long, colorful Autumns and the rugged coastline. (though we find ourselves missing the Oregon/Washington coast) Maine is also filled with wonderful historical buildings and sites and there are many gorgeous old cemeteries to visit. We had a great time showing it off to our friend Jen and Lindsay's parents and sister when they visited this fall. They especially enjoyed the fresh lobster rolls from Red's Eats.

    We do miss our friends and family. There's a sense of isolation from being so very far away from everyone. But it's allowed us to concentrate on our writing and our kids and we are really looking forward to 2011! If only there were any decent Mexican restaurants out here....

We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday season.
Merry Christmas from Lindsay, Kris, Ludo, Pooka, Clover & Sassafras!

The ROUS FAMILY -     

Oh Christmas Tree

Now Playing -    
Wonderful Christmastime by Barenaked Ladies
 

Life -  

 Man, it's very hard to get excited about the holidays when you commute for an hour and a half every day, work ten hours a day and are required for your job to work six days a week through Christmas. That leaves me roughly twelve hours to eat, sleep, clean, shower, get ready for work and find the spirit of Christmas.

Clover loves Christmas!

Luckily our one day off together is pretty swell. This week, we spent the morning running around. We bought a few last gifts, ate some breakfast and bought a tree! It's a nice looking one, too. We also bought some cheap decorations at target and some simple lights (That will go out on the deck this spring) It's a diffferent look for our tree, usually it's a lot more colorful, filled with bright "Kids" ornaments that we've both held on to for decades. But those are all in storage back home in Idaho. The only ornaments we brought with us to Maine are the once yearly ones that we pick together. So this year our tree is kind of classy looking, with color coordinated ornaments. Of course, I can never find a tree topper I like, so we improvised, using one of my African masks and a cat-costume Santa beard.

Then I spent the rest of the evening finishing up the gift wrapping and played with some Legos for a bit. Like last week, I started to get a bit antsy about the fact that I had to return to work the next day, and a bit irritable too, so I wound down with an hour of reading. I'm currently reading AT HOME, by Bill Bryson. So far it's the perfect book for this time of year. It's full of humor and history of the homes we live in. Though it does make me long for a real home again.

Our ornament for this year. A lobster, of course!

Writing - 

Writing is on hold until January. I just can't get my mojo working without more time.

Weighty Matters -     
My Current Weight -  297    
Progress Thus Far -     

Not really any progress, but I did buy some "Perfect Pushups" and started doing some push ups and crunches before bed each night. It's a start.

The ROUS FAMILY -     

Accursed Bug!

Now Playing -     
Only The Young by Brandon Flowers
 

Life -  

 My life can be summed up by one simple word - SICK. After years of confidently prancing around amongst the sick and infirm customers of Idaho, my carefully cultivated immunity to common bugs has let me down out here in Maine, where there are new, wicked strains. For the last few days I've been suffering from a sore throat, headache, body aches, couch, runny nose, congested sinuses, dizziness, sore ears, even sensitive fingertips, for heck's sake! I'm finally feeling better, thanks to some heavy druggage and a sick day, but man, I was pretty miserable for a couple of days.

Now, I just have to hope my wife doesn't get it... She's not a happy sick person. (And it's her birthday on the sixth, so it would just be mean of the thing to make her sick on her birthday!)

Apart from that, nothing to report.

Writing - 

I lost at NaNoWriMo, but that's okay, I made it to over 35,000 words, that's pretty decent. Now I just have to find time in December to finish!
  

The Last Sentence -  
  Pale was quite happy to find an unbroken jar of pickles in a basement storeroom.
    From - "Mr. Pale Steps Out" (WIP) 

Weighty Matters -   
  My Current Weight -  296
  

The ROUS FAMILY - 

  Sold the last of my lightweight Sasquatch sticker over on Deeply Dapper, hooray! I also started a new feature where I comment on just the covers of the books I'm reading.

My lovely bride talks about why she likes rejection letters

How NaNoWriMo made me a loser. And a winner.

Coming soon - Another LEGO review!