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March 08, 2015 - 10:58 p.m.
"maple sugaring 2015"

Hey Journal!

Wow... I can't believe it's been FIVE YEARS since the first time we went to Maple Sugaring! We returned today for a second visit.

I set out alarm for 10:30 and we got up and got ready to go out to breakfast. Daylight Savings Time didn't seem to affect me too much today so that's a good thing. The only thing is that I'm not really that tired right now and it's probably because I feel like it's an hour earlier than the clock says it is!

At 11:00, Kristen picked us up and we went to Relish for breakfast. They said the wait would be about 25-30 minutes but it turned out to be more like 45! It was a lot warmer than it's been the past few weeks so we stood outside and soaked up the sun and enjoyed the breeze. It was 47 degrees out, and that seemed warm!

Eventually they revised their estimated wait time and started telling newcomers that the wait was about an hour. That discouraged a lot of people and they left. The one parking spot in the parking lot KEPT being taken and then the people would go inside, found out the wait time, and leave! It was crazy.

Around 12:00, we got a table and we had one of the only two waiters we usually have there, Tom. I got the Egg Special and I went all out and got the Oreo Mint milkshake! Wahoo! It was super-thick today and Tom apologized for that, he said he'd get me more milk if I needed, but it wasn't bad. It was really good, actually. I think in general they just need thicker straws for their milkshakes because it's always difficult to use a regular small straw for that!

We finished up around 12:45 and then we headed over to Hoyt Farm for our Maple Sugaring adventure. All of the snow was really melting away today so there was a lot of mud to trek through. We got there a little early so we went up and checked out Clarabelle the cow and saw some of the chickens and goats. One of the goats was looking at the tassels from my hat with very hungry eyes!

The demonstration was PACKED. There were so many people there that it was hard for us to see what was going on. They charge $3 per person for the event but it's so haphazard. There's no real indication of where you go to pay and I guarantee a good number of people didn't. It's not even that they would be trying not to pay, it's just that they don't make it clear.

Before we went I read my journal entry from the last time we went. It was February 28, 2010. Wow! It refreshed my memory, and it seems like today's demonstration was pretty much the same. They had the kid who played the part of Chlorophyll and a "Brianna" Tree. We all think that the two girls and the guy who did the demonstration are the same ones from last time.

During their presentation, this crazy woman kept trying to push her way up front. She had a daughter that was up there with all the other kids and she was tapping on people asking them if she could move closer. Then she was squatting like a fool up front! It was really weird. The other weird person for the day was this man who yelled out "stonnessssss....hot stonessssssss" when the woman asked how they used to boil the water to make the syrup!

Next we went off for the demonstration. They were going to have us all go to one tree but then they split us into two groups. We had to trudge through the mud and avoid giant puddles to get there. This one woman was trying to tame her granddaughter who kept jumping in puddles. Our favorite quote was, "your sister went to non-listening school!"

After it was over we got a sample of maple syrup and a piece of maple sugar! The maple sugar was really good! It was wild. They say you can make it at home but it's really crazy... if you collect one gallon of tree sap you need to boil it for hours and then it will only make about 2oz of syrup or even less of the sugar!

When it was over we were FREEZING COLD! It had gotten so much colder than when we were waiting for breakfast just a few hours earlier. We hurried back to the car and warmed up inside.

Kristen dropped Dan and I back off at home and we watched the show American Crime. It was on this week and we decided to record it. So many random shows starting in March but they're all a little off.

After that we went to Home Depot to get paint for our living room. We decided on the color "Fresh Tone." It looks nice on the chip but I'm a little scared that it will be too light. My fear is that with the light yellow in the rest of the house, the light green will look either too minty or too pastel and it will look like Easter all year round! I want a nice dark color in there... or a brown/tan, but Dan doesn't.

Dan went out to the gym and while he was there, I did a little painting. We are planning to actually paint next weekend but I did a few splotches on the wall to see how we liked the color. I did one wall a little more than the others to get a really good idea of how it will look next to the yellow.

Dan came home and said it looks good. I don't think it's terrible, but I'm just not 100% convinced yet!

-Gym- Report:
2 miles on the Treadmill in 30 mins

Dan got home, got on the treadmill, and then we had some pork loin for dinner! We had never made that before. Dan grilled it up outside and I made steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes inside! It all came out really great. If I had one thing to do better I would say the pork should have been cooked just a LITTLE less. Last time we cooked, the broccoli was overcooked and this time it came out excellent. Just the right amount of time.

We ate our feast and watched Judge Judy. After that we watched Once Upon a Time and Secrets and Lies.

Dan isn't feeling well right now... he said he feels nauseous! We're gonna get to bed...hopefully he will be feeling better in the morning!

Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)