moose and radioactive brownies

monday and tuesday were my days off this week.  last weekend we had a group of about 100 mainers come. when i say mainers, i mean men who have been born and raised in maine, drink coffee by the gallons, wink at you and say "how ya doin this morhnin, deah?" now this is what i grew up with so it just reminded me of how awesome maine really is.

on monday i went with Cathy and kids to another church lady's house to make jam. this was my first experience canning jam. pretty fun for canning jam. plus i got to know some of the church ladies better.

tuesday i was planning on going down to bucksport to get my car but alas, it was not ready. still waiting on a part from south carolina. oh glory, it's going to cost a fortune! so i decided to go scope out the course for my next possible marathon--the sugarloaf marathon. well considering that sugarloaf is a mountain one would expect the course to be quite mountainous. yep. it has quite the gain of elevation. guess its going to be a heck of a lot of hill workouts for me this winter! oh joy!

driving to sugarloaf one must drive south, then west, then north if one wants to stay on the main, paved, well traveled (in maine standards) roads. i got the grand notion to use logging roads on the way back instead of the main roads. i found my trusty, old maine atlas and gazetteer  out and found my way from rte 27 to rte 201 via logging roads. i had to go within a mile of the canadian border then back down across the top of flagstaff lake then across a couple mountains then i would finally hit 201. so i'm driving a long at a good speed of about 35 mph. these roads are generally pretty skinny, pot hole-y, and and curvy. all of a sudden a very large cow moose jumps out of a bush on the left side. her head was heading towards mine and i could see the crazed look in her eyes as she met up with possibly her doom in the shape of a bright red ford f150. at the last possible millisecond she veered to her left and headed down the road as i slammed on my brakes and prayed for the best (not hitting the moose). i was about 20 miles out and that would have been pretty bad. she moved to the front of the car and managed to gallop down the road and head into the ditch on the right. needless to say i was more alert and careful as i managed the next 30 miles to 201. i almost hit a partridge and ran over a tree. but the moose was by far the most exciting. super pretty through there; all the leaves are changing and i was out in the middle of the mountains.

last night i hung out with mason and got the grand idea of making brownies. the ever prepared mason did not have baking soda, baking powder, or a brownie pan. we left out those ingredients and tried making it in a pot. that plan got aborted when we decided to just eat the dough and again the plan was terminated when we had the grand idea of baking with the microwave. that said, they ended up burnt and i'm pretty sure they were radioactive. (still haven't grown an extra limb yet...). when you ate them they fizzled with the consistency of pop rocks and turned rock hard. they ended up getting dumped and we went brownie-less for the night.

soooo all is well in the land of hel. i miss my friends much. i had my passport picture taken and it was by far the second worst picture i have ever had taken. (the first is my second grade yearbook picture. --i had no teeth, my hair is huge, ugly dress, and benjamin franklin glasses). that being said, its time for me to go.

goodnight!

life in the north.

so its time for me to write again. i'm at moose river outpost in moose river, maine (8 miles south of the canadian border). i'm sitting on the deck overlooking the lake. its awesome. its kind of cloudy and it's supposed to rain for the next four days.

i moved in with the Coates family. they have three kids two girls and one boy, ages 4, 2, and 10 months. should be a fun winter :)

my car registration and inspection ran out last month and i was able to register it but not get it inspected. that worthless piece of metal is rusted out on the bottom and at any given moment my car could break and send me flying into the woods! once i get that fixed i'm selling it and buying something that will hopefully get me up the 3mile long driveway in the snow :)

i miss all my friends out at school. it's kinda weird not being there while everyone is back in classes i'm cleaning cabins at camp and welcoming groups from puerto rico to the maine northwood. its okay though, i'm pretty sure this is where God wants me for now. when i have the money i will go back to school and get my degree in environmental science. woo hoo for science people!

i'm applying for my passport! i figure if i live 8 miles from canada i should probably get my passport. plus i think its time i stop hiding in the trunk when i cross the border. :/

anywho, i don't have signal up here usually. once in a while my phone will vibrate for a couple minutes and then i know i've hit a hot spot for signal. it usually only lasts a short time not enough to call anyone :/ so pretty much the only way to get a hold of me is by snail mail, facebook, email, pigeon, or my favorite--smoke signals.