Eastern Shore Things #2

There are no Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Doughnut shops that are easily accesible for a quick weekend treat.  But we have discovered something better:

The Corner Bakery in Onancock has fresh baked delicious doughnuts.They are warm, sweet, sticky, and it is hard to eat just one. A true ESVA treat!  We hope you'll come visit soon so we'll have a good reason to get a dozen of them.

Country-fried-Chris and Mid-Atlantic Aquatic Technology (MAAT)

So as you read our blog you may wonder how Chris is fairing in all this.  I'll let this picture speak to that.

Chris in a camo hat on a tractor backhoe with a big smile on his face
.

Much of the adjustment has been easier for Chris because he has been so busy with work. But in some ways it has been harder because he is SO busy with work.  Right now he is coordinating:

•  the building of a new system (this involves a lot of planning and coordinating on it's own)
• the expansion of sales to more of NY (Long Island) and NJ
• the application for a marketing grant
  
• gearing up for a spawn in November
  
• setting up the live feeds room (for the larvae)
• fish holding systems on Long Island for two suppliers
• managing employees
• and more.  (This includes keeping the fish alive.)

His days start at about 6:30/7 and he is often returning calls or answering the phone until 8 or 9 at night.  I keep telling myself that at some point we will establish some firmer work boundaries but right now they are really flexible since we live on the farm and the farm phone rings in our house.

Also, Chris was invited to be a reviewer for Journal of World Aquaculture Society by Wade (the professor he worked with at UNCW).  It is a great honor, but will also require more time from Chris.   This means he gets articles to edit and review before they are approved for publication.He is very excited because it puts him at the next level, beyond publishing.

He is doing a great job with everything at the farm.  He is exactly the person they needed to get things off the ground here.

The inside of the farm building- the site of many, many, more tanks soon!

He is filling the roles of: planner, organizer, manager, marketer, coordinator, plumber, electrician, scientist, contractor, truck driver, farmer, fisherman, mechanic,  counselor, negotiator, and more.

It's a lot of balls to keep in the air, but so far he has been a master juggler!

Eastern Shore Things #1 (born here vs come here)

So here is the first of many entries on things specific to the Eastern Shore.  These may be sayings, places, things we do, things we see ect. 

"If you can't be a "Born Here" it's better to be
 a "Come Here" than a "Never Been Here".

Eastern Shore natives are very proud of living on the Eastern Shore.  Soon after moving here we heard the term "come-heres".  That title is given to anyone who was not "born-here".  Even those who moved here as a young child (2 or 3 years old) refer to themselves as a "come-here".  The "born heres" like life how it is, no major changes ect.  Hence the way things are out here.  This is not always a bad thing, in someways it's a nice change of pace.
Most articles about the Eastern Shore will mention if the person is a "born here" or a "come here".  Our chuch's welcome statment includes this line:

We are equally welcoming to both “born-here’s”
and “come-here’s”.

Obviously we are "come-heres".

MOSQUITOES!

So we have SWARMS of mosquitoes out here in Quinby. When I say swarms I am definitely not exaggerating. For some reason the hungry little blood-suckers are worse here than anywhere else in the area. Unless the wind is blowing we cannot be outside for even 1 minute with becoming a buffet for mosquitoes. Apparently the type we have are aggressive and sneaky, and they eat during the daylight hours (according the the VA Mosquito Control website).

A normal day starts like this:
ME: OK time to head out, lets go to the car.
We open the laundry room door, and then shut it before opening the backdoor. We open the backdoor and step out onto the steps. Grace begins to run to the car while I scoot Sarah Elizabeth out of the way to close the door. I then scoop SE up and run to the car to get there before Grace.)
ME: Run! Run! Quick! Quick! Let's GO!!
GRACE: I'm trying, the bugs are getting me.
ME:Hurry! Hurry, climb in!
(Grace climbs in on Sarah Elizabeth's side and I push her towards her seat as I cram SE into her seat. Meanwhile I must keep my mouth shut for fear of swallowing one- yes this has happened.
I buckle SE in while wildly swatting at mosquitoes. I slam the door and jump in the front seat.)
ME: Whew!
GRACE: I tried and I tried but I couldn't hurry the bugs still got me! AND LOOK more are in the CAR!!!
(Now I grab and swat at the 15-20 rouge mosquitoes that have made it into the car. Outside hundreds fly at the windows. I contort my body to buckle Grace in and we are off.)
GRACE: I see one!! I see one MOMMY!!
ME: Ok OK, I'm trying to get them. (While trying to keep the car on the road.)
GRACE: I have my gloves on now I can get them too. (Grace has winter gloves she keeps in her car seat for mosquito slaying.) Are they gone now?
ME: I don't see any, but some might be hiding.
(During our 20 minute drive we kill a few more.)

It has been like this for a few weeks now, but today on the way to school Grace noticed her gloves had blood on them. When I explained that mosquitoes eat blood and it was probably from when she squashed a mosquito- she was hysterical. I guess she didn't realize that was what they were doing when they bit her. She wore her gloves to school today, so that she could get any mosquitoes when they go outside to play. I guess we'll see how that went when I pick her up this afternoon.

We are currently exploring our mosquito control options. We have to balance the safety of the fish, dogs and children with wanting to exterminate these monsters!

Grace's 1st day video (take 2)

Sorry if you tried this link earlier and it did not work.

It works now!

This video is a little bit long. But for all the grandparents who wished they could be here for Grace's 1st day of school, we tried to capture some of the big moments.

Worries and Questions

So today was Grace's second day of school. Last night I started thinking about how at 3 1/2 she is now "out there" in the world. So then the worries and questions started running through my brain.

Will she be confident? Will she make the right choices?
Will she listen to her teachers? Will she always be kind?
Will she stand up for herself? Will she stand up for others?
Will she be strong enough to ignore hurtful words from others?

Did I do all I could to give her the tools to handle new situations?

Does she always remember how much we love her?
Does she remember how much God loves her?
Will she feel as special as we feel she is?
In the 3 1/2 years I had her all to myself, did I teach her enough... ?

And I hope the answers to most of my questions are yes, but I also know that just because she is gone 8:30-1 Monday thru Friday, my time for teaching is not over.

One small step for Grace, one GIANT LEAP for Mom and Dad

Today we took Grace for her "visit" to Montessori Children's House of Franktown (MCHF). She starts next Wednesday but they had the kids come by for a one-on-one visit this week. Gillian is the directress and Grace's teacher. She took Grace on a tour of the classroom. She showed Grace where her cubby was and all the different centers in the classroom. Grace followed Gillian around with a big grin on her face.
I know Grace will have a wonderful time at school this year, but it's hard to think about her being old enough to go to school 5 days a week. I thought I had at least one more year before that happened. It will be great for Grace, to have kids to interact with everyday. She has missed her buddies a lot this summer. It will also give Sarah Elizabeth and I time together, hopefully we will meet other mommies and 1-2 year olds for Sarah Elizabeth to play with. But with all that said I know watching Grace march into the classroom next week with bring tears to both my eyes and Chris' eyes- just talking about it makes us teary!