Sarah Never Stops

10 things about my Maternal Grandma

2011-07-21T07:35:00.001-04:00

1. Her name was Urath Cromwell Cockey Gibson.

2. Today, July 21, 2011 would have been her 100^th birthday.

3. She was born in 1911 and when she was of school age her grandmother insisted that she come live in the city because surely the country schools were not going to teach her much. Her grandmother was a woman who was born in the 1850’s and so she imparted her Victorian ideals on her young charge. As a result my grandmother was very Victorian in her manner and attitudes, and yet, she was also very modern. She didn’t marry til she was 28 years old and she didn’t start having children until she was in her 30’s. Her last child wasn’t born til after she turned 40. But here’s the most amazing thing about all that to me…she was living in West Virginia, it was the 30’s and 40’s and she had a FEMALE OB/GYN! How progressive is that?

4. Grandma was always reading and the best advice she ever gave to me was to always carry a book with me and I’d never be bored. I wonder how she’d feel about Kindles?

5. Grandma got her college degree when she was 78 years old. She took a computer course cause she was so curious about what everyone on tv was talking about. She never quite understood the “information superhighway” but she wanted to know all about it. She also took a typing class and when she couldn’t type fast enough for the timed tests she would hold up her 77 year old hands and tell the teacher she was going as fast as she could and the teacher would let her off! (As I had just struggled through typing class in high school I was quite incensed by her ability to get away with this! Ironically now I make my living typing.)

6. At her funeral the eulogist said that grandma had “boundless curiosity” and I realized in that moment that I had inherited that trait from her. She was curious about everything and everyone she met. She pat the space beside her and say “Come sit here and tell me what exactly it is you do? Where do you work? What did you study to get there? Where do you live? Where are you from? Where are your parents now? How do you parents like this life you’ve chosen? What do they do?

7. She liked company but wasn’t shy about shooing you out of her house when she’d had enough for one day. I remember going to visit my grandparents on Sundays when I was a child. When 60 Minutes came on at 7pm silence was called and all the grandchildren had to settle down. I remember lying on the oriental rug in front of the tv watching the show. I didn’t understand most of the stories, but I loved that ticking stopwatch and to this day when I watch it I feel like my grandfather is over my left shoulder. As soon as the show was over Grandma would order everyone out, it was time to get home so we wouldn’t be driving late at night.

8. Grandma loved a view. Her house sat on a hill and her favorite chair was by a window where she could watch the birds and the cows and the traffic on a nearby road. She passed that down to my mother and to me as well.

9. She was fascinated by the weather! She should have been on the news talking about the weather. She had a rain gauge always and in later years when the electronic weather stations were small and affordable my uncle bought her one, then she would tell you all about the windspeed and rainfall and anything else you might want to know about the weather that week at her house.

10. Grandma died several years ago, but she lived a very full life. She was very independent and died in the home that she and Grandaddy had built back in the 30’s. She lived alone from the time my grandfather died in 1980 until her illness at the end of her life when she had 24 hour nursing care. I never heard her express regret about any part of her life. She always seemed content to me. I wish she was still alive so I could ask her about a million questions that I never thought of while she was living.

Icehouses

2011-07-18T19:48:00.000-04:00

I have a new favorite drink. Betsy came over here one Saturday a few weeks back and asked if I'd ever had an Icehouse. I had heard of Icehouse Beer, but not the mixed drink. When she described it I wasn't convinced I would like it, it sounded rather odd. You make frozen margaritas and then in each glass you pour 1/3 Dos Equis Beer and 2/3 frozen rita. Let me tell you, no matter how odd that may sound to you it is absolutely delicious!! There is something about that mixture that cannot be beat. We've only had them that one time, but I have been craving them ever since and I'm not much of a drinker, so that is really saying something.

Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Me in Grad School? Whaaaaa???

2011-07-17T07:46:00.001-04:00

So my friend Kiki was badgering me the other day about contacting GMU and contesting the fact that they want me to repeat classes from 27 years ago. I have been avoiding this partly because it's painful after everything that happened to me last fall and partly because I feel like I'm asking for special favors and I don't want to do that. But to shut Kiki (and TWQ and CAB and everyone else who has commented on this recently) up I wrote an email to my favorite Folklore professor who is also one of the "chairs" in the English department. I was FLOORED by her response. She said that she was so saddened to hear that I was not in school and not finishing because she had hoped I would go to GRAD SCHOOL! Me! In grad school!!! The idea is SO ludicrous to me because it has taken me so long to get this fucking degree, the last thing I was thinking of was CONTINUING. But then the idea that she thought so highly of me and my writing that she wanted me in her field really gave me pause. What if I did go to grad school. What if I did become a professional folklorist (that sounds so silly considering that folklore is something you learn from someone else and not from a book). The thing is I am a folklorist now, I love to hear other people's stories and share my own. I write about my adventures on my blog. I take daily joy in life. I don't need any degree to do that. But still...I'm intrigued. Grad school.

I Heart The Birchmere

2011-07-10T08:29:00.002-04:00

Hello my friends,
I am still blissed out after another fabulous night at The Birchmere. I bought tickets to see Kasey Chambers the moment her new tour was announced. Originally I thought my bestie Betsy was going with me but she made plans to visit her family at the beach (and who could blame her) then I thought I'd force Miles to join me, he's my child he has to do what I say right? Well he made other plans as well...so then I invited EVERYONE I could think of including broadcasting it on Facebook, but NO ONE could/would go. So you know what I did? I went all by myself!!! I had a blast.

The Birchmere is my favorite venue, it relatively small and intimate and it has open seating, so it doesn't matter when you buy your ticket, it only matters what time you line up at the door the night of the show. I have a system and a favorite seat and so far I have not been disappointed, since I started my system I have always sat at the same table with the same fabulous view of the stage. Last night was no different. I showed up at 4:30pm last night which is actually late for me, I've been known to get there as early as 3:30 and been first in line! Last night I was #20 in line. I sat on the ground with my back against the building and read my book until 5pm when they opened the door and gave me my tickets and line number. Then I sat in the bar and read my book (really good book btw) until 6pm when they opened the Music Hall door and called my number. I sashayed my way right to my favorite table, a 4 top, and sat down and opened my book again. Within a few minutes a gentleman walked up and asked if I was alone and if he could sit with me. Well of course you can! Turned out he was an education professor at Towson University, one of my alma maters! Also turned out he was a big fan of Kasey and folk/bluegrass music so we had a great conversation about music and we each made a list of acts and albums to check out. Also turned out that he is married. Sigh, the story of my life. Shortly after Mr. Professor and I dove headfirst into conversation two more guys walked up and asked if they could sit with us. We said SURE. They sat down and talked to each other. All three of these guys were age appropriate, tall, handsome and obviously had good taste in music. I figured the other two were gay.

The opening act was a young guy I had never heard of although this didn't bother me in the least because I have discovered both Red Molly and Justin Townes Earle when they opened up for someone bigger at The Birchmere and they are two of my favorites. This kid's name was Owen Danoff and he just graduated from the Berklee School of Music. He did an excellent job, he was funny and self deprecating and he and his partner (who's name was Adrian something) were terrific at the guitar and at harmonizing. Turned out that his mother was sitting at the table right behind me so I got to talk to her as well.

I talked to all three of my table mates during the break between acts. Mr. Professor went out to the merch table and the other two and I compared notes on what we thought about Owen. Turns out they were brothers although they looked NOTHING alike and one of them is a Lighting Guy on Broadway!!!!!!! Needless to say I SWOONED at that! His brother was the local of the two and when we had a discussion about the best pizza, he actually named Melting Pot before I could!!!! We were each suitably impressed that the other knew about our favorite pizza.

Then Kasey and her band came out and brought the house down. She is amazing and last night she was 6 months pregnant which makes her even more amazing in my book! She had her dad with her on stage as always and this time she had another girl and a young guy as well. She did a great job as always but I think my favorite part of her shows is her storytelling between songs. She played my two favorites "Not Pretty Enough" and "The Captain" but I think my favorite song of the night was a bluegrass primer for Aussies. She said that they don't really know bluegrass in Australia so she is trying to introduce them to it gently. And then she played the funniest medley I have ever heard!!! All four bandmates stood up around one microphone and started playing bluegrass sounding music and then began singing Not Pretty Enough followed by The Captain followed by Stayin Alive followed by Beat It!!! I thought I was gonna fall on the floor laughing. It was priceless and I only wish I had video of it!

When the show was over Mr. Pizza and Mr. Broadway waved and left before the lights even came up. Mr. Professor said how glad he was to meet me. I turned to Owen's Mom and told her what a great job her son had done and then I made my way to the parking lot where I read my book for another 15 minutes while the traffic jam cleared off.

All in all it was one of my best concert experiences ever and other than the fact that I had to eat a ticket, it may be my favorite one so far. Definite proof that I don't need a date to have fun!!!

Selling the RV

2011-07-04T09:48:00.000-04:00

Here she is from the front.

28' feet of beauty and comfort

the kitchen

the dining, game playing, talking, reading hanging out area

here's where the driver sits in comfort while motoring down the highways...

here is where you can sit in comfort while you're waiting for your dinner or guests to arrive...

plenty of tread left on those babies...

the view from the front, it sleeps 6 altogether

I don't want to do it, but it has to happen. It makes no sense to keep the RV when I have no one to travel with. I put signs on it last week and yesterday I went out to Mama's and took pictures of it. I sobbed on the bed in the back in spite of the 99 degree temps inside. I cleaned out most of the personal stuff that was left, I took a bunch of pix and I listed it on Craigslist and Facebook. I have had 5 people contact me to ask questions but no one has moved beyond that so far. Here are the pix, let me know if you or anyone you know is interested...

It was a very good week...

2011-06-25T08:50:00.000-04:00

Hi My Friends,
I have had a very good week:

I had my annual review at my new job which was really my 90 day review since that's how long I've been there. They all had flattering things to say about me so I was more than pleased. I'm not sure if I'm eligible for an increase or a bonus at this stage but obviously both things would be welcome.
I finished a project that I thought would only take a few days and ended up taking more than three weeks. It was transcribing interviews with various heads of human services organizations and while sometimes tedious it was also interesting. I also got to use a transcribing pedal for the first time and I really loved that gadget!
I found a birthday gift for my mother that I have wanted to get for her for years. Her birthday isn't until November but I really want to give it to her RIGHT NOW!
I have almost nailed the ins and outs of a complicated project that I have to accomplish on the 14th of every month for one of my five bosses. Each month I get it done faster and I understand it better, next month it should be a breeze.
I bought myself a skillet and a turner at a thrift store so now I can have grilled cheese sandwiches again. Hooray!
I had some very illuminating conversations with a college friend who only new me for a short time 25 years ago. Their memories of who I was then, how I carried myself, how I was viewed by the world around me gave me terrific insight and peace on who was then and who I am now. I feel almost reborn in a way, that sounds so cheesy, but I really do have a new sense of peace and I wake up smiling every day.
I bought two tickets in the second row of BOOK OF MORMON for my birthday next year!! Miles and I can hardly wait!
I figured out what to do with an afghan that I had started for someone that I could no longer give it to. I have almost finished it now and the little girl who will get it will be thrilled as it is much larger than the one I made that she keeps stealing from her new baby sister.
I met a young man at work who is equally interested in blood drives and we have spearheaded a new blood drive program at work. We are both very excited about it and so is HR.
I discovered Green Olive Tapenade at Whole Foods and it is my new favorite food.
I read, I crocheted, I played on the computer, I sang, I practiced my banjo, I cooked for my son, I visited with friends, all to my heart's content.

It was a very good week.

Rapture Cake

2011-05-21T20:05:00.000-04:00

Okay, so the world didn't end at 6pm, thank God, so I put a cake in the oven and then I put it in my tummy. I have never made a pineapple upside down cake before, but I had been craving it so I went online and found a recipe at Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen. I have learned I can trust Pioneer Woman with food every time.
I just took this cake out of my oven. OMG, it is so yummy!!! Mine isn't as pretty as this picture, but it was definitely easy and quick. There is most certainly some rapture going on in my living room.

Maw-Maw’s Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Added by bradfordbaker on April 6, 2011 in Cakes, Desserts

Prep Time 10 Minutes
Cook Time 35 Minutes

Servings 8

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

1 stick Butter, Unsalted
1 cup Flour
1 cup Sugar, Granulated
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Salt
¼ cups Water, Cold
3 whole Eggs (large)
1 cup Brown Sugar (loosely Packed)
1 can (20 Oz. Size) Pineapple Tidbits, Drained
½ jars (10 Oz. Size) Maraschino Cherries, Drained

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Melt the butter in a 9-inch cake pan. This takes about five minutes in the preheating oven.

While the butter is melting, combine the following in medium bowl using a wooden spoon: flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, cold water, and eggs.

Take melted butter out of oven and sprinkle (in the order given) the following over it: brown sugar, pineapple tidbits, and cherries (arranged prettily).

Next, carefully pour the flour and sugar mixture into the pan.

Place in the oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. I usually start checking at about 25 minutes just to make sure not to over bake it. (Plus I’m a bit impatient.)

Once fully baked, remove from the oven and let rest for 3 minutes. Invert cake onto a pretty glass plate. (I usually need to scrape a little of the brown sugar off the bottom of the pan. I put it on the cake or sometimes just eat it. Yum!)

Fresh Start

2011-05-15T10:20:00.000-04:00

Hello Ma Peeps,

It has been rough being me over the last few months and I had no desire to share my pain online. Even now I'm not sure I can tell the story and I know I can't tell it without tears pouring down my face. Frankly, I'm tired of crying. Suffice it to say that my heart was ripped out of my chest and stomped on and I'm not recovered. I have however made a fresh start.

I am living in a cozy, sweet apartment three miles away from my wonderful, gorgeous son. I am working for a cool, dynamic company that takes very good care of their employees and I have such a solid collection of friends that complaining about my lot in life would be ludicrous.

I crochet and read and watch tv as much as I want. I have work that challenges me. I see my son as much as his busy teenager schedule will allow. I watch every minute of every NASCAR race. My paychecks are back where they belong. Life is good.

Elizabeth Berg

2010-09-12T22:43:00.001-04:00

Hi All!

I'm sorry I have neglected you! I know, I know, you are waiting for the rest of the Birthday Trip story...and all the news happening now. I have just been overwhelmed with school and life and school and life. Five people in my town or from my town have died in the past three days...see, life is overwhelming here!

Anyway, I am writing today just to tell you this...I love Elizabeth Berg! She writes wonderful novels and a wonderful blog. I wrote her a letter last year and I just read her blog and discovered that she thanked me online for my letter!!!! Here's what she said...

"To Sarah of Leesberg, Va: Your purple greeting card and purple ink were fantastico. As was your personal card, which described you as "adventurer, believer, can collector, good samaritan, reader" and about a million other things."

How cool is THAT??

Miles' Birthday Trip - Part TWO, NYC

2010-08-19T08:53:00.005-04:00

In all my travels to New York City, I have never once gone to a museum. I always wanted to go to but there was always so much else to do AND being from the DC area, I'm so used to free museums that it has taken me awhile to warm up to the idea of having to pay for the privilege. This was the trip I was determined to change this trend, and we chose the Metropolitan Museum of Art. By the time we got ourselves up and moving and fed and into Manhattan it was already noon so we only had 90 minutes as we were meeting Katy at the St. James theatre at 1:30pm. We were very specific in our desire to see the Picasso exhibit though, so 90 minutes was just enough time. Needless to say there are rooms and rooms of other stuff there that we would both like to see, but at least we've made a start on NY museums. The Picasso exhibit was lovely. He had a huge body of work and worked for many many years, so there was a very broad variety of works to see. I have to say that I liked his ink portraits of his "bar buddies" that he did when he was 18 better than any of his later works. They were very detailed and small, about the size of a coaster, which means they would probably fit in my budget better as well.

After Picasso we found our way back to the front of the museum and hailed a taxi to take us to the St. James to meet Katy. We were about to see Miles and Joseph's first ever Broadway Play! We chose American Idiot which is based on the Greenday album of the same name. It was a hard charging show that never slowed down. We all really enjoyed it and we bought the soundtrack on our way out the door. It starred John Gallagher Jr. who also starred in Spring Awakening, my all time favorite Broadway show.

It was about 3:45pm at this point and by now our donuts from the morning had worn off and we were all starving. We had dinner plans for later but decided to grab a snack at Dallas BBQ. My friend Nicole met us there and we had some yummy vittals. Miles ordered the hot wings and we were all surprised when full wings came out, not just wing pieces. It was a huge platter of food, but being a growing teenager he hoovered right through them and is still talking about how good they were. We all enjoyed our food and catching up with Nicole and Katy. Nicole had even brought Katy a floaty pen which is Katy's favorite thing!

Our next adventure was unexpected and delightful! My dad's first cousin Carolyn moved from Miami to NYC many years ago and for the most part we had lost touch with her. Recently she found me on Facebook and contacted me asking if I was interested in family tree information that she had collected over the years. Of course I was interested! I know lots about my mother's family, but very little about my father's so this was very welcome news. I had met Carolyn at least one other time in my life, when I was five years old she was visiting my grandparents and she taught me to tie my shoes. I thought she was SO cool. I let Carolyn know that we were coming to New York and she asked if we would be interested in touring her husband Mitch's music studio. Mitch is a music producer. Of course we said YES! So after our snack we called Carolyn and headed to the studio on 9th Avenue. Mitch and Carolyn were absolutely adorable and we loved spending time with them. They greeted us at the elevator outside the studio and welcomed us with open arms. The walls of the studio were covered with photographs of the celebrities who had recorded there. His studio has been there for many years. The building is an Art Deco building from the '20's and the windows even open, which is so unusual in offices these days. We sat in Mitch's office and enjoyed a view of the Hudson River.

Mitch and Carolyn had made reservations for all of us at their favorite restaurant just up the street, Ralph's. We still had Nicole with us and though she attempted to back out as she felt it was a family thing, we convinced her to stay with us. We had a lovely dinner at Ralph's, Joseph declared the fetticine alfredo as the best he'd ever had. We shared a bottle of wine with our meal and then we all ordered desserts which got shared around the table. Mitch snuck back to the bar and paid the check when we weren't paying attention, which was super sweet of him. You would never have guessed that we had all just met, it really felt like we had known each other for years, we really were family. When we finished eating we decided to walk a little and burn off some of those calories. Carolyn told us that there was a free concert up the street at Lincoln Center so we headed up there. Sure enough there was Caribbean music echoing from the buildings and a folks of every age dancing in the aisles! We even saw a guy who was a dead ringer for Albert Einstein kicking up his heels! I think the name of the band was Mazza Pucci, but don't hold me to that.

After the concert we asked Mitch and Carolyn if we could see their Manhattan apartment as I had always wanted to see one. They have such a reputation for being shoe boxes and I wanted to see if the rumors were true. I have to say that although their apartment was small, it was delightful. I really loved it, it was plenty of room for two people and the location couldn't be beat! We can't wait to hang out with Mitch and Carolyn again, we had such a good time!

We left the apartment and walked Katy back to her train and then Nicole and the rest of us walked over to the PATH station to head back to Jersey City. As usual it was well after midnight before we got back to the rig. Exhausted we fell into bed and didn't stir until 11am. We called Nicole as she was interested in seeing this RV park in her town that she had never heard of before. She walked down to where we were and hung out with us for a while. She even drove the rig from our parking space to the dump station! Then she directed us to a local diner that she had recently discovered and I had what may have been the best grilled ham and cheese ever! We walked down to the waterfront to walk off our breakfast and then we said goodbye to Nicole and set off on the next part of our journey!

Miles' Birthday Trip - Part ONE, NJ

2010-08-11T21:56:00.001-04:00

School is finally done for the semester and it is almost Miles' birthday so we gassed up the Rallye Girl and headed out of town again. We had been planning on this trip ever since we bought the rig, as I had asked Miles first thing where he'd like to go for his birthday. He chose Boston. I can honestly say I was surprised by the answer although I shouldn't have been. To be more specific he wanted to go to a clothing store in Boston. The name of the store is Johnny Cupcakes and the reason this shouldn't have surprised me is because years ago when I took him to NYC for his first visit he wanted to visit a clothing store there as well (Bape). My child is a clothes horse, what can I say?

By the time we got out of Strasburg it was almost time for Joseph's online class so we got off 66 at Front Royal and parked at the Cracker Barrel. CB is one of those places that welcomes RV's and you can actually park there overnight if you like. We were just there for dinner and class though, no overnights yet. Miles and I amused ourselves on our computers while Joseph took his class. We had the generator running and the AC on so we were quite comfortable.

Now you may be wondering how we were all three online at the same time in a parking lot. Well I am very happy to announce that we are the proud owners of our own little MiFi hotspot!!! We had gotten so frustrated with searching for free WiFi and with trying to connect at campgrounds that advertised free Wifi but then had such a weak signal that we couldn't even check our email. We are very pleased with our purchase and so far it is working like a charm!

When class and dinner were done we hit the road again. I assured Joseph that he didn't have to drive through the night. We were headed to Asbury Park, NJ first, but we didn't have a reservation at a campground that night so there was no rush or exact destination. Once we got north of Baltimore he started showing fatigue and was ready to find a place to plug in for the night.

Now another aside about our other favorite gadget on the rig. Our GPS. We originally bought a GPS on our trip to Myrtle Beach before we even bought the rig, because we had gotten lost on that trip and didn't want to repeat our mistake. We called that first unit Jill because that was the name of the voice we chose. Although the unit was supposed to have all sorts of cool features, like traffic notices and exit ramp notifications we never really saw those features work. I thought I just hadn't found the right commands and didn't really worry about it much. Several times we would change roads without Jill's permission and she would do everything in her power to MAKE us go back and do what she said, but for the most part we were satisfied with her work. One day though she simply stopped working altogether. When we tried to turn her on she just blinked at us. We weren't sure what was wrong, but the next time we went by a Best Buy we stopped in to see what could be done and the girl immediately took it back and gave us a new one. Needless to say we were thrilled, it was less than 2 months old and I now know that it never worked correctly because as soon as we plugged the new unit in things were MUCH better. We changed the accent on our new unit to Australian female, her name is Karen and we like her much better. She doesn't seem as bitchy when we ignore her instructions for one thing. ;) For another thing, she tells us our exit before we get there. I tell you all this in order to tell you that one of our favorite features of the GPS is the ability to find us a campground. If you'll recall, on the way home from SML she found us the Shenandoah Valley KOA near Staunton, which was a fabulous place! This time we weren't so lucky, but it wasn't Karen's fault. She found us what looked to be a lovely campground near Elkton, MD but when we got there (after midnight) it was dark and locked and there was a gate with a code lock, so we couldn't even find a spot on our own and pay in the morning. Luckily we had passed a Walmart so we back tracked a few miles and hunkered in there for the night.

In the morning we breakfasted at Waffle House and then headed on to our first destination of this trip, Asbury Park, NJ. I had just seen a friend on Facebook mention the Silverball Pinball Museum and Arcade and knew immediately that I wanted to find it. Of course Asbury Park was familiar to me as it is to any Bruce Springsteen fan and as it turns out the Stone Pony is diagonally across the street from the Silverball. The deal at the Silverball is that it is a museum AND an arcade. They have rows and rows of old pinball machines and arcade games, including skeeball in working order. You pay $10 to get in and you can play all the games for free for an hour (you can also pay $15 for the whole day and go in and out all day long, but since we weren't staying we didn't need that option). We plunked down our $30 for the three of us and got our armbands and headed inside. I have never been good at pinball and today was no different, I suck at it.

However, they also had Galaga which was my FAVORITE arcade game back in the day! I rock Galaga, I even beat Joseph's high score, although I came nowhere close to the high score for the machine which they post on a little placard on every machine there! When our hour was done (which felt like three minutes later) we went out onto the boardwalk and were planning to walk down to the water's edge and get our feet wet, but the "beach cops" had different plans for us. Turns out that you have to pay to walk out on the beach there! I didn't need wet toes that badly, so we turned around and headed to the rig, for some reason though the cops gave us the stinkeye until we were out of siight. I'm not sure why they were so anxious about our presense, maybe they thought we were gonna turn around and bum rush our way onto the sand?

Our next destination was Hillside, NJ. In order to tell you why I would be headed to Hillside, I have an embarrassing confession to make. My guilty pleasure in life is the Real Housewives franchise on Bravo TV. I have never watched the Atlanta version and I have yet to see the DC version but I love, love, love the OC, NY and NJ versions. One of the Real Housewives of NJ, Teresa, just opened a pizzarria with her husband Joe. On her blog one day (yes, I read the blogs too) she mentioned the address of the pizza place and said "If you are ever in the area stop by, Joe will probably be there and I might be there." Well seeing as Hillside is very close to Jersey City where we were staying, how could I resist. We found the restaurant with no trouble whatsoever, and even found a nice parking spot for the rig, not too far down the street. When we entered we were greeted by a sweet man who was very enthusiastic about his menu and making sure we enjoyed whatever we ordered. We could see Teresa's husband Joe sitting a table talking to some people, so he really does run his business in person. We placed our order and sat down to wait. The restaurant was beautifully decorated and a poster of Teresa and a copy of her book were prominently displayed. When our food came they were HUGE helpings and totally delish! Joseph got a steak and cheese wrap, Miles got paninini and I got veal parmesan. The sauce on mine was amazing. When we were done the cashier asked if we had come because of the tv show and we told him yes and described our rig parked down the street. He asked if we had seen Joe which of course we had. He asked if I wanted to meet Joe, which I did also, but I didn't want to bust in on his conversation, he was actually on the phone at this moment, so I really didn't want to disturb him, but the employee assured me that it was fine and called Joe over. Joe was very sweet asked us questions about our rig and such.

If you’re in Hillside, New Jersey, stop by Giuseppe’s Homestyle Pizzeria at 1576 Maple Avenue!

Quantico and Triangle in the Rig

2010-08-11T21:51:00.000-04:00

In mid July we decided to take our second trip in our Rallye Girl. Living with a Marine had taught me a lot about the Marine Corps and I was excited at the notion of visiting Quantico Marine Corps Base and the National Marine Corps Museum. Joseph was equally excited to show me the base and the PX and he had never been to the museum either. We looked around online to find a campground in the area and decided on Aquia Pines. We drove up there on Saturday, after my first week of the summer semester was over. By the time we got to the museum it was already 3:30 and they closed at 5pm, but since it is a free museum, we went in anyway.

This museum is truly an amazing experience. They have really done a good job of activating all your senses. There were placques to read, videos to watch, and music to listen to. In some rooms the floor would vibrate to simulate riding on troop ships, at the beginning of the tour you could stand in a booth where the voice of a Drill Sargeant was yelling at you from all directions. It confirmed for me something I already knew...I would have never made it in the Marine Corps! I would have lasted about five minutes with people yelling at me and then I would have been a puddle on the floor. In one room meant to simulate a battle where Marines were freezing cold during the Korean War the room was kept very cold.

The first day we only got as far as WWI before we ran out of time. When we left the museum, we moseyed on over to the base and I got to shop for the first time in a PX. We bought Marine Corps license plate frames for my car and the rig and I also found my favorite perfume for $36 which is much less than the $50 I would have paid at a regular store. I had been holding out on replacing my almost empty bottle for several months in anticipation of this trip and I was excited to have perfume again, especially at such a nice price! After the PX, Joseph drove me around the base to show me base housing and such and then we headed into to town for dinner and then back to our campsite. The campground was decent, although not as nice as some we had seen and although they advertised free WiFi, we were sorely disappointed in the service as we could only log on for 3 or 4 minutes at a time, and not at the same time!

The next day we woke up, showered, lazed around a bit and then headed back to the museum. We spent about 4 more hours and made it as far as the Korean War in the history of the Corps before I was on overload and had to leave. We still have to go back to do the sections from the Korean War to the present, but it was a lot to absorb and I just couldn't take anymore that day. We had a late lunch/early dinner at the replica Tun Tavern (the original is where the Marine Corps was founded in Philadelphia!) in the museum and then once again headed back to our campsite. We were actually scheduled to stay another night in the campground and we did hang out until about 10pm, but we were so annoyed with the WiFi situation and worried about getting to school the next day, that we decided to head on home so we'd have or normal commute on Monday morning.

NYC by RV

2010-08-02T11:07:00.002-04:00

When we finally got home from our Lake trip we unpacked and got our laundry started. We were still pouting because we didn't want the adventures to stop. We drove up to Winchester in our car which felt very weird after being in the rig for a week. We went to the Camping World store there though, so we were still traveling in our souls! After shopping we stopped for lunch and while we were eating my sister called. My sister lives in Brooklyn and was feeling lonely because her roommate was out of town. She didn't have to ask us twice to come visit! We could hardly get home fast enough to pack up and take off for New York City.

Now, I know you are wondering where on Earth we thought we were gonna CAMP in New York City. Well for once Dear Reader, I am one step ahead of you. It so happens that years ago when I was married we travelled to NYC on a regular basis, but we couldn't afford to stay in the expensive hotels in the area. We usually stayed with friends, but I researched camping options (we were tent campers) so that if our friends' couches and floors were unavailable, we'd still be able to go visit the big apple. While Joseph was throwing our snacks and computers and clean laundry into baskets to carry out to the rig I looked up the Liberty Harbor Campground which I had found way back in the day. It still existed, but by the time I called it was after 5pm so I got a voicemail when I tried to make a reservation.

Liberty Harbor is in Jersey City where two friends of mine live or have lived. It has been my gateway to Manhattan for years. So directions were not an issue, from the time we left the house until we got off the turnpike I knew exactly where we were, and finding the campground turned out to be a snap. We pulled into the gatehouse and although we didn't have a reservation the night guard assured us there was room and took our information. We drove through the gate and were simply amazed at what we found. It was nothing more than an asphalt parking lot with 50 or more motor homes, fifth wheels and travel trailers. They were all parked close together just like a regular parking lot, but down the center lines of the rows were electric and water hookups. I think it is a truly amazing and beautiful idea. Whoever owns that parking lot is making themselves a mint. It was a random weeknight and the place was packed. It turned out that the campground was actually completely booked, even though we had found an empty space, and in the morning they informed us that although we couldn't have a regular space with hookups, we could still stay in lot, off to the side and pay for the privilege. We were happy to pay for a safe parking space though, we have a terrific generator for power and they had a nice bathhouse . They are located only 6 blocks from the PATH train and they have a view of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty.

So here we are in NYC, we headed over to Manhattan around noon and our first priority was some good new york pizza! We got off the PATH train at the WTC and started walking north. Within a couple of blocks we found our heart's desire and had a slice. We texted Katy and let her know we were headed in her direction and got subway instructions. Now, as many times as I have been in NYC, I have never taken the subway unless I was with a local. It just seemed entirely to confusing and I really didn't want to be lost underground. Katy has been living there for a while now and was confident of her subway directions, so we trusted her and headed underground. We found her work with no trouble at all. She works for an adorable portrait studio on the upper west side, Portrait Bug, you can even see her pretty face on their website! She introduced us to her co-workers and showed us some portraits she had shot that morning and then just before her quitting time, her boss came in and we got to meet her and her husband as well. After we left, we made our way to several landmarks that I have always wanted to see including the flagship Tiffany's store, Trump Tower and St. Patrick's Cathedral. We also found a Tad's Steakhouse which is one of my favorite places to eat in NY. It is just a hole-in-the-wall chain, but the food is always good and the prices are great, especially for Manhattan.

The next day we left the rig earlier and made our way all the way over to Katy's apartment in Brooklyn. Katy needed food and had other errands to run, so we ran around Brooklyn with her including a trip to Costco. Katy didn't have a Costco card but I do so she was able to stock up on a ton of frozen foods that were reasonably priced. Her local grocery stores don't have the variety of frozen choices that she is used to and she hates buying fresh food and then having it go bad before she has time to eat it. She was a very happy girl, and I was actually able to add her to my account while we were there, so she can go back. After all our errand running we met up with my friend Nicole for dinner at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame restaurant at 519 Hudson and 10th Street. This restaurant had been on my list of places to try for quite awhile. I actually first saw it on Sex and the City. The food was really good and we were glad to have searched it out. It was really good to see Nicole and have her finally meet Katy. On our way out we walked through a movie or television taping. Not sure what show it was but they were filming street scenes outside another restaurant as well as filming a scene inside a restaurant, so we just moseyed our way right on down the street.

We headed back to Katy's house in Brooklyn because our brother (CAB) was on his way up from Florida and Joseph and I wanted to surprise him. He had no idea that we were already up there and I had been very quiet about it on facebook all week to keep him in the dark. We went to all this trouble because CAB loves to surprise people in this way, and it was nice to be able to do it to him for once. Once CAB arrived and was suitably surprised we played a trivia game which is pretty much a mandatory activity when a group of us in are in the same room. By the time we left it was close to midnight and by the time we got back to the Rallye Girl it was after 2am and we were EXHAUSTED.

CAB wanted to see our rig and Katy had to work the next morning so he left Brooklyn with her and came to find us in Jersey City. We hung out for a while and then we drove him back to the PATH station and we headed home. We love NY and were thrilled at how well the Liberty Harbor Marina RV Park served our needs. We know we will be back there soon!

Home is Wherever We Are!

2010-07-26T17:44:00.002-04:00

When we left Smith Mountain Lake we decided to drive up through Bedford, VA. We had both been wanting to go the the National D-Day Memorial which is located in Bedford and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Once we got to town we decided to find some food first, so we drove around until we found a shopping center with multiple restaurants. One of the choices was something called Huddle House. I had never heard of HH but Joseph was familiar and said it would be right up my alley so that is where we went. We asked our waitress about free internet (we are learning to ask now). She confirmed that they did have wifi so Joseph ran back out to the rig to get our laptops. We ordered breakfast foods even though it was mid-afternoon and our meal was EXCELLENT! We even got dessert which we don't normally have, but their key lime pie seemed too yummy to pass up.

When we were finished we dropped the laptops off in the rig and walked over to a Goodwill Store and then a Tractor Supply store to get some shopping done. Then we headed back to the Welcome Center and WWII Memorial. Imagine our surprise to see two other motorhomes not only parked on the grounds but hooked up! They actually have 3 RV sites there for overnight stays!!! You can only stay one night but it only costs $25! We enjoyed the Welcome Center exhibits and then headed back to the Memorial. It was a very bright, hot day and there was NO SHADE. I wished mightily that I had an umbrella to use as a sunshade. (I have since added two umbrellas to the permanent rig inventory.) There was so much to read, dozens of plaques with long involved descriptions of the people involved. We read all of them for a while, but then it became overwhelming as did the heat and we had to skip through to the "important" stuff. The whole time we were walking along we could hear simulated gunfire from part of the exhibit. When we got to the part where the statues of boys were climbing up onto the beach it became more and more emotional. Realizing that most of those boys who died were only a couple of years older than my son Miles made me very sad and emotional. After catching our breath and walking through the rest of the sculptures we made our way to the gift shop. I love museum gift shops because they always have a nice variety of items that can be gifts for others. This time I was thrilled to find a book about the Boys of Bedford. If you are not aware, the reason the National D-Day Memorial is in the tiny town of Bedford, VA is because more men (boys) per capita were lost from Bedford than anywhere else in the U.S. Bedford lost a total of 19 boys in that one day alone. We also found some Marine pins for My Marine.

Soon we were pulling out of Bedford and headed back north towards home. The further we got from the lake, the longer our faces got! We did NOT want to go home. We did not want our time in our Rallye Girl to end. We stopped in Staunton to get gas and just on a whim I decided to get out our GPS and see what she could find for us. One of the most wonderful functions on our GPS is that once she has found a satellite you can ask her for local restaurants, gas stations, hotels and CAMPGROUNDS!!!! So I asked Jill where the closest campground was and lo and behold there was one within six miles of where we were sitting! Now picture this, we go driving down a dark country road. We see the campground sign which is also dark. We drive down a long winding driveway still in the pitch dark and suddenly we round a bend and below us in a bowl of a valley is what looks like a city of lights. Compared to the tiny, quiet state park we had been staying in all week, this place was a bustling metropolis. We couldn't believe our eyes. There were motorhomes and travel trailers and tents in row upon row. Most of them either had interior lights on, or exterior strings of xmas lights, or bonfires or all three! We pulled up at the office to see if they even had space for us and while Joseph was inside I sat in the rig with the windows rolled down and marvelled at the spectacle before me. There was a karaoke contest going where one song was was country and the next hip hop, there were teens running in and out of the camp store buying ice cream and such, there were dogs everywhere and little Seamus was trembling with excitement on my lap. Joseph came out a few minutes later after securing us a spot, there were only a few left so we were lucky, but the funniest part was that the reason our particular section was still empty was because there were no cable tv hookups down there...okay, I know we are freaks for needing wifi where ever we go...but cable tv? Really? Our spot was right by the river and yes we DID have wifi!!!! We were so excited it took us several hours to calm down enough to go to bed. It was probably 2am before we got into bed and we laid there talking and laughing for at least another hour. Somehow it felt like a reprieve, we didn't have to go home after all! Our vacation didn't have to be over! Now what is REALLY funny about this is that we are retired, so we are technically always on vacation...

We like to Eat!

2010-07-25T09:48:00.001-04:00

After my last post about Smith Mountain Lake, I thought I'd write another one where I just discussed the restaurants we visited and the terrific food we ate. From the first time we drove through on our way to the campground I had my eye on a new place called Tuscan Tavern. I don't know why it caught my eye, it was in a strip mall and didn't look fancy or anything, but there was something about the name that called to me. At any rate, it was a couple of days before we actually stopped there, but it was worth the wait. We took the plunge for lunch one day, we were both starved and pasta was exactly what I was in the mood for. It turned out to be quite nice on the inside and was obviously new. Our waitress was an Italian lady of about 50 who was the owner's wife and the owner of all the recipes. I can tell you that her veal parmesian was the bomb! She took very good care of us and when we got to the register to pay we met her husband and found out the full story. I love family owned and operated restaurants like that where they feed you like you are family. They are very sweet people and we will definitely eat there whenever we return to the lake.

There were several Mexican restaurants in the area but the one that caught my attention was a brand new, huge place called El Torrito. We went there for dinner the evening after we had been on the water all day. We were hot and tired and sunburned and Mexican food seemed to just fit the bill. We drove the rig up into the parking lot and got ourselves dressed for dinner. On our way in the door Joseph noticed that they had free wifi! Since wifi had been hard to find this was good news, but we decided to worry about the computers later. We went on in and ordered our new favorite beer Bud Light Lime. We had bought one of the tall boys at the grocery store the night before and decided it was our perfect summer beer. Along with the beers came chips and salsa and our other favorite treat at Mexican restaurants...the white sauce! Does anyone know what this stuff is, other than yummy??? We love it, we discovered it at our local Mexican place and were thrilled to see it was available elsewhere! We each ordered chimichangas which have become my go-to choice these days thanks to my friend Wren. I don't know if it was the sunburn or the day on the water or what, but that meal was DELISH! The place was hopping so I'm glad to see they are doing a good business and will hopefully be around for a good long time.

When we were done eating we decided to see if the wifi signal reached all the way out to the far side of the parking lot where we had parked the rig. We were in luck! We were able to sit out in the rig with our puppy and relax in our own environment. We got some funny looks from patrons going in, I guess they thought we were weird for sitting there in a parking lot with our generator and lights on, playing on our computers. We didn't care, we were having fun! We love being at home where ever we are!

On our last morning at the lake we stopped into another place we had passed every single day and I'm so glad we finally did. It is called the Blue Bird Bakery and Grill and it is adorable. It is funny what you notice when you are on the road with no tv or internet for a few days. The first thing we look for now is free wifi, but we also hadn't seen tv in days and this place had big screens all along the walls and behind the bar. All the tvs were tuned to ESPN or CNN and we were getting our first news in days. The food was great and the waitress was very friendly and invited us to walk over into the bakery before we paid our bill...which of course meant we added some baked goods to our tab! Smart girl! We got some funny looks from other patrons for sitting there with our laptops. I'm sure they were shaking their heads at the fact that "some people" can't step away from the computer for five minutes...we have decided that before we hit the road on a long journey we are gonna have to install our own internet because we really do feel cut off when we can't get online.

Library Girl

2010-07-24T07:12:00.002-04:00

In all my excitement about owning an RV and traveling all around the country with My Marine, I only had one big concern. Books! It sounds crazy, I know! The problem is that I have always been a library girl. I got my first library card from the Handley Library in Winchester when I was five years old. My parents took my brother and me to the library every 3 weeks like clockwork, we all got a large pile of books and plowed through them with glee. As a result of this early training in frugality, I very rarely buy books. There are three reasons for this, one of the reasons is that once I have read a book I'm done, I'm not the type to read and reread the same book over and over again. There are way to many books in the world for me to limit myself to stories I already know. Secondly is the expense, why would I pay for a book when the local library will let me borrow it for free?? I feel so lucky to live in a country that is blanketed with free libraries! Thirdly is the clutter. While I love books and love perusing shelves of books, I really don't want to have a houseful of them. I have always preferred small houses and right now I'm sharing living quarters with Mama and My Marine so we have enough furniture and "stuff"; that it is a blessing that I haven't bought every book I ever loved and toted them around with me.

But how can I be a library girl when I will have no fixed address and won't be in the same place for very long? This was a real concern for me and I brought it up to Joseph and everyone else that I discussed our travel plans with. Finally I asked my dad about it. He and his wife have owned a motorhome for several years now and he is also a reader and a library user, so I knew he'd have already faced the same issue. He had an immediate answer. Yard sales! Well of course! Used books. Once I started thinking about it, I realized that yard sales would be just one option, most libraries have used book shelves where they sell off duplicate copies of books, and there were also thrift stores, not to mention actual used book stores.

Since this revelation I have bought books at the Waynesboro Library, the Smith Mountain Lake Library and the Goodwill Store in Bedford. I have also been given piles of books by my dad and my friend Gramarg. I now have a lovely shelf full of books in Rallye Girl, at least 30 books and I have invested less than $20! The best part is that when I am done with them, I can trade them out for others or leave them in campgrounds or coffee shops for others to enjoy. This makes me supremely happy!

Smith Mountain Lake or RV trip #1

2010-07-22T19:08:00.003-04:00

Our first real trip in the RV was set to start Sunday June 20th at Smith Mountain Lake, which is one of my favorite places on Earth. My grandparents had a house there when I was a child and I spent every summer there from the age of five until I was 13 or so. I booked a campsite at the state park there the minute we found our rig. Since we didn't want a repeat of our adventures in Linden, Joseph (aka My Marine) spent several days out at his dad's going over the engine with a fine toothed comb and replacing whatever needed it. He also learned the ins and outs of the generator so that we would have electricity when needed. The generator turned out to not have any problems at all, it just hadn't been run much by the previous owner and the battery was dead. I think his dad was impressed with our purchase but he would never admit it as it is a Ford and he is a Chevy man.

By this point we had named our rig Rallye Girl and gotten our title and tags and such. She is a 1986 Fleetwood Jamboree Rallye. She is 28 feet long and can conceivably sleep 6 and seat 7. As far as we can tell from her paperwork she was originally purchased here in Virginia and we are the 4th owners. We know that she has been as far west as Colorado as there was work done on her out there back in the '90's. She is in excellent condition considering the other rigs we looked at and the price couldn't be beat.

Sunday morning we packed our clothes and our computers and lots of snacks and drinks and cleaning supplies and anything else we could think of that we might need. We set out late in the morning with first goal being a stop at my dad's house. We were only 10 miles down the interstate when problems began. First she started running hot and before we could even get to the next exit which was less than a mile away she overheated. We pulled over and Joseph got out and lifted the hood. Evidently the cap hadn't been tightened enough on the radiator when it had been checked last, and it had come off allowing all the fluids to boil off. We let things cool down a little and then we we nursed her to the exit, riding about 5 miles an hour for about 50 yards at a time on the shoulder until we got there. Four gallons of antifreeze and we were back in business. We decided to take route 11 instead of 81 so that we wouldn't have to travel as fast and so that if the rig overheated again we could stop more easily. We made it to Dad's and then on to the lake with no further issues.

We didn't end up arriving at the lake until around 9:30pm. It was dark and quiet, but the office for the campground was still open and we got our map and site assignment and set off into the woods. Joseph parked and hopped out to set up the exterior systems while I rearranged the interior from "travel" mode to "home" mode. By the time he was finished so was I. This has now become a routine for us and we both finish our duties in under five minutes and are ready to relax. We did indeed relax. It felt so good to finally be "away" in our rig. We slept late, lazed around the campsite and took our good old sweet time on any errand or project. This was our first chance to really relax together and although we had plenty to do, we didn't really have deadlines...well, except for one, but more on that later.

We spent our time on Monday and Tuesday solving rig issues, fitting her out with new rugs and dishes and things to make her homey. By Tuesday afternoon we were desperate for internet, not only because we missed being online but because Joseph had a paper due that needed to be written and uploaded. We had yet to see any signs or advertising for free wifi. One of the lucky things was that I had spent enough time at the lake that I knew my way around the local towns, so we had been shopping at Walmart and Kroger and Autozone, we had eaten at several restaurants and we had passed tons of other restaurants and businesses, but not one mentioned free wifi. One of the lovely new buildings that we had passed every day was a library. Now I am a library girl anyway so I was curious to see this new library, but I was also pretty sure that they would have wifi. We pulled the rig into the parking lot around 4pm and we weren't sure if the library would be open past 5pm. As it turned out the library was open til 8pm and we had signal out in the parking lot, so Joseph wrote his paper and I played online to my little heart's content.

After he uploaded his paper we had accomplished all of the "work" that we needed to accomplish and we could finally play! We had been at the lake for 3 days and had yet to see the water except when crossing the Hales Ford Bridge, which we had done several times a day. I know, sad right? Staying at the lake but never enjoying the water! Wednesday was the day to change this. We rented a pontoon boat from Parrot Cove, which is my favorite marina, and I took Joseph to see the dam and my grandparents former property and just to enjoy the water, the boats and the houses. We had our cooler full of drinks and snacks and they even let us take Seamus on the boat which was a pleasant surprise. We were out on the water for 4-5 hours and although I spent almost all that time under the roof of the boat, I ended up with a TERRIBLE sunburn that turned into sun poison and still bothers me weeks later!

Thursday morning we had to contemplate moving on. We had to leave the campground for good by 2pm. We really didn't want to go, we wanted to spend more time on the water, we wanted to spend more time in the rig. We simply didn't want the trip to end. We moved very slowly that morning packing things up and putting the rig back into "travel" mode. We were very happy with our new little home though. We put her through her paces and she came through with flying colors.

Trial Run

2010-07-01T18:38:00.002-04:00

Recently My Marine and I bought a used RV. It isn't big and it isn't fancy but it suits us to a T. We planned our first trip to be to Smith Mountain Lake which is my favorite place on Earth. Before we went there though we thought it would be a good idea to take a test run and see how everything worked. This turned out to be an excellent idea as you will soon see. We decided to drive to my Ex's and pick up Miles for dinner. This would also serve the purpose of showing off the rig to Miles. We also decided to take the poodle with us to see what kind of road dog he would be. My Ex lives about an hour away so this was an excellent test run of the engine. We got up there with no trouble at all, picked up the boy and went to dinner at Olive Garden which I had been craving. We had a lovely visit with Miles and Seamus the wonder poodle proved himself to be an excellent RV dog by not barking or whining or anything when we left him alone in the rig. We dropped the boy off and went to Wal-Mart, this errand had two purposes, one was to buy some "stuff" we needed to make the rig homey and the other was to see if there were any overnighters there and perhaps join them. Did you know you could spend the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot for free? S'true!! When we got there, there were already two rigs parked for the night, but they were dark and quiet so we didn't get to meet our neighbors. We did shop and enjoy ourselves and when we got back outside we had to decide whether to go "home" or stay put. When we tried to start the generator we had no luck, so that made our decision for us, no electricity, no thanks. We headed home. At this point it was around 11 or 11:30 at night.

While we were testing systems we decided to test our GPS. It has a menu choice to locate campgrounds so we decided to see if we could find one. The closest one listed was in Haymarket, VA. We followed the directions off the highway, through a neighborhood, out into the countryside, up a driveway...to find a farm house that was dark. There was a sign back at the road saying it was a camp ground, but there was no evidence whatsoever that anyone was camping there and we were not about to knock on the house door as now it was after midnight. So we set off again towards home. About 20 minutes from home a belt broke. We didn't know what it was at first, all we knew was that the engine had lost power and it was 1am and we were on a desolate highway. Luckily we were close enough to home to know what was at the next exit so we got off there. We kept driving west but we were going much slower and we didn't know how long we would last or what damage we might be doing to the engine. When we got to Linden we pulled into the Post Office parking lot which was well lit and My Marine got out to assess the damage.

It turned out we had broken a belt, which was minor but certainly not fixable at that moment. Lucky for us there was a bathroom and a bed with fresh sheets available!! Also lucky for us, the parking lot was level, so we didn't have to worry about rolling out of bed or sleeping with the blood rushing to our heads all night. We climbed into bed and spent our first night in our new home. It wasn't a very peaceful night. I must say that the people of Linden, VA love their post office!!! It was visited all night long!!! There was a LOT of mail to go out and it had to be out no matter the hour! I never knew that country post offices had such night time traffic!

In the morning My Marine got out there and opened the hood and started doing what he could to get us back on the road. After a while a man walked up with a cup of coffee in hand and asked if we were "broke down". Nah, we always sleep in post office parking lots and play around under the hood. It is our favorite entertainment. He turned out to be a real nice fellow though, he gave us the number of his mechanic who lived down the road and made "house calls". We never got his name or the name of his mechanic, but the mechanic did come about 30 minutes later and figured out what we needed, ran to town for the new belts, came back and installed them and never stopped talking the entire time. He was just what we needed and I hope we are as lucky when we are somewhere far from home.

We got back on the road and made it home with no further incidents. We were so glad that we had practiced first!

Happy Girl

2010-06-10T17:18:00.004-04:00

Folks, I am such a happy girl these days I can hardly stand myself. I know that society doesn't much like it when someone actually admits to being happy, people don't like it when you have something they don't, but I can't help it, I am happy. I have been in a relationship with Joseph aka My Marine for a little over 2 months now and I am extremely happy and content.

Although I had been told by previous dates and boyfriends that I was looking for something or someone that didn't exist, I found it! Joseph is affectionate and sweet, and caring and nurturing every single day. He tells me I am beautiful, he tells me he is proud of me and probably most important of all he shares my dreams.

We both have a dream of finishing our college degrees. He is working on his online at Kaplan University and I am on year 27 of my degree at George Mason University. A few months ago when I was registering for the fall semester I discovered that there were only 3 classes being offered that I needed and they were all being taught during the day. This meant that I would miss another semester because I was working during the day. This caused much angst and soul searching on my part, should I give up on school (again) or should I quit my job and concentrate on school til I finished. Considering I only need 8 more classes to graduate, that seemed like an excellent option, but how would I support myself while I did that? I don't have any debt, I live with Mama so I'm not paying rent, but I do buy the groceries and have a cell phone bill and need gas and insurance for my car. When I talked this over with Joseph his response was immediate. He told me to quit my job and he would help me with my living expenses while I finished my degree. He is already set to graduate next May and if I can get all the classes I need, I could do the same! I gave notice at work the very next day.

Dream number two that we shared was to own and RV and travel across the country. In order to pay my tuition I had already planned to cash in some investments that I had, so I went ahead and cashed in twice as much, half for tuition and half for an RV. We commenced our search for a decent motor home that we could afford, that had a good engine, that didn't smell, that was a nice size. It took a couple of months of diligently reading the Craigslist postings from all over the state, and checking out the ones that seemed to fit our criteria on paper. We saw some real duds, rattle traps, engines that wouldn't start etc., but last week we found our girl! She is a 1986 Fleetwood, Jamboree Rallye and we have dubbed her Rallye Girl.

So yes, I'm a happy girl. Three of my lifelong dreams are being realized with the help of this wonderful man, I am in a fabulous partnership with a wonderful man who speaks my love language, I am finishing my education (finally) and I will be hitting the road to see this great nation in person.

Why Yes, I am a Power Puff Girl, Why Do You Ask?

2010-05-05T16:37:00.003-04:00

My sister Katy's friend Amy posted this on Facebook today and I was immediately inspired. I passed the link on to several friends and we have decided to start "team ARKing" on a weekly basis. We call ourselves the PowerPuff Girls...we shall remain anonymous, you can think of us as Pink, Green and Blue. I am Pink. We may ARK on YOU soon, so watch out! We are gonna try to do something as a team every week, but we can also do stuff on our own. I started a list of possibilities, using Robyn's list as a base, but we have added several more and are up to 50 at this point. Now that I have the plan in my head I want to run right out and start carrying groceries and washing windshields and pumping gas for folks. Funny how that whole giving thing just takes over sometimes.

Lime Chicken Picante does not contain Marinara Sauce

2010-05-04T14:52:00.001-04:00

Tonight I am making Lime Chicken Picante for Mama and Joseph and Wren. I am receiving lots of help with all this cooking because I am the only one of the four of us who is currently working...not that the rest of them aren't busy, but they don't have to be at work for 8 hours a day, nor do they commute another 3 hours a day...but I digress.

I originally got this recipe from Rachael Ray's 365 No Repeats Cookbook, but I have modified it and made it even easier. We already had chicken and lime juice in the house so Mama is marinating the chicken breasts in the lime juice all day. I was checking the cupboards for the other ingredients and I said:

"Do we have any salsa?"

Mama: I have this (opens the fridge and holds up a jar of marinara sauce).
Me: No Mama, that's marinara sauce, I need salsa.
Mama: What's the difference?
Me: Well, one is marinara and the other is salsa.
Mama: But they are both tomato sauces...
Me: Mama, one is Italian and the other is Spanish.
Mama: They are both red, what makes them different?

Do I really need to explain this to her? She is a grown woman, she loves to eat, she reads constantly, does she really not know the difference between salsa and marinara?

Me: Marinara sauce is made with pureed tomatoes and Italian spices, salsa is made with chopped tomatoes and peppers and onions and Spanish flavors.
Mama: Well...
Me: Mama, I'll send Joseph to the store to get salsa, don't worry about it.
Mama: Okay, if you think there's a difference. You're in charge.

So, Mama is marinating, Joseph is grocery shopping, Wren is showing up and I am cooking. I will probably be the last one there, but they will wait, because I am in charge!

The recipe if you are interested is:
marinate chicken breasts in lime juice for the day or at least 30 minutes in a glass pan
pour a jar of salsa over them and bake in the oven for at least 30 minutes or until done
mix a package of Lipton Rice and Sauce Spanish Rice
open a can of refried beans and heat in the microwave
when the chicken is done, scoop a portion of chicken into the middle of each plate, cover with some of the salsa from the pan, put a dollop of sour cream or plain yogurt on top, put refried beans down one side of the plate and spanish rice down the other. Ta Da! Super Easy! Super Yummy! Please don't use marinara sauce...

Learning to Drive

2010-04-08T16:35:00.004-04:00

I remember how much I loved learning to drive. It is so scary at first and then when you start getting the hang of it, it is just so flipping cool! When I finally got my license at 17 and then my first car at 18 I was a happy, happy girl. My first car was a 69 vw beetle that had been in my family since its birth and I had wanted it for my very own since the age of 4. My sister was a toddler when I was 18, so I was thrilled to have an escape from the house. A boyfriend installed a cool stereo and fashioned me a hand made speaker box for the backseat...remember those bugs just had a hole behind the backseat, nowhere to install speakers. I would cruise the back roads of Shenandoah County blasting The Police and Genesis and Prince and all my mix tapes.

I am reminded of those days as I attempt to teach my darling boy how to drive. He did great in my sister's car which has an automatic transmission, but our first attempt in my car with a manual transmission did not go so smoothly! The worst part is that the accident was ENTIRELY my fault! I feel terrible, and now my sister has hidden her car from us so that we don't do any damage to it...so poor Myles is gonna have to learn on a stick first. But I've gotten ahead of myself as usual.

THE STORY

Once upon a time there was a tall, handsome boy who got his learner's permit and was excited to get behind the wheel of a car. His mother was equally excited to teach him as she remembered so fondly her own driving lessons. Mother and child went to the high school parking lot in the dark of night and practised turning corners and stopping at invisible stop signs and using blinkers and mirrors. Once the Mother screamed out "Watch out for that kid on a bike!" To test the boy's reflexes and braking abilities. He passed that test with flying colors but I think he had the shakes for about 10 minutes, because he thought there really was a kid.

That night we drove from Strasburg to Toms Brook and back and he did a great job. The next time I had him overnight I drove partway home and then had him take over. He drove from where Route 7 crosses the Shenandoah River all the way home. This involved getting onto and off of 81, which is a big deal as it is a busy highway!! The next morning he drove from the house to Hamilton where traffic was really picking up. He was doing fine and could have driven all the way to his dad's house, but I got a phone call and couldn't concentrate on what he was doing and talk on the phone at the same time.

The next time I picked him up I was driving my car. He groused that he was hoping to drive and I explained that his aunt was less than pleased that we were using her car for his lessons and that he was welcome to learn to drive stick. He refused. 20 minutes later he relented and asked for a lesson. I pulled over into a quiet parking lot to give him the basics and get him started. He got behind the wheel and drove to the other end of the parking lot. We switched seats so that I could turn the car around and then he got behind the wheel again and drove to the other end. We switched, I turned, we switched...I FAILED TO STRAIGHTEN OUT THE WHEEL! When he let off the clutch and hit the gas the car made a sharp left, went over the curb, over a small tree, down a 25 foot embankment and into a ditch, mere inches from 65 mile an hour traffic!!!!

It was one of those slow motion things, I was stomping the brake on my side of the car which obviously was doing no good, and I was yelling "brake! brake!" His foot was on the clutch as hard as he could push and was yelling "I am! I am!" Luckily he found the brake at the very last moment, so we eased into the ditch and did hardly any damage to the car at all. We were fine, the car was fine, all was fine. I had to call a tow truck to get pulled out and he had to pull us back up the embankment. When we told him what happened he laughed and said "Don't feel bad son, when I drove a stick for the first time I went right into a brick wall and my Mama was NOT happy!" I think that made Myles feel a LOT better.

No Need

2010-04-05T13:13:00.003-04:00

One of the many things that Perry has said to me hit me as such a deep truth. I have been mulling it over for weeks now and the more I think on it, the more true it seems to be. I'm paraphrasing and I know I won't do his words justice, but it was something akin to:

When you start a new relationship you should not start from a place of need, but rather from a place of completeness. Then your two complete souls can circle and dance and be together, but not be needy or clingy towards each other.

With that in mind, I no longer intend to search for men on match.com or craigslist or any other dating sites. Searching in that way denotes need, I have no need.

I have always believed that everything happens for a reason and that people come into your life and leave your life exactly when you need them too. At this moment I have lots of wonderful people in my life. I have no need of anything.

Hello Again!

2010-04-04T16:37:00.005-04:00

Hello Friends,

I am back. Sorry I was gone so long, several of you have chastised me recently for not posting and I really don't have any excuse except for the old "if you don't have anything nice to say..." adage that my Mama pounded into my head as a youngster.

The good news is that I'm back. The reason I'm writing today when I haven't written for so many other days is that I watched "Julie and Julia" this morning and it reminded me how much I enjoyed writing, although I have NO intention of tackling THAT feat!

Let's see, you need to get caught up on my doings:

Left Sheldon in December, but remained friends.
Moved back into my Mama's house where I grew up.
Signed up for a class that I thought I would LOVE.
Hated professor but loved subject so attempted to stick with it.
Dropped class before committing harikari or murder, but still read all the books, cause I really did like the subject matter.
Met someone new who we shall call Perry.
Gave up snow for Lent after suffering through several freak snowstorms.
Had my heart almost broken by said Perry.
Read a very large pile of marvelous books, with only a couple duds. (Join Goodreads to keep up with my reading list.)
Slowly moved crap out of my childhood bedroom and moved my stuff in.
Began hanging out with Sheldon again, a lot.
Registered for Summer school.
Decided that living with Sheldon was NOT an option, but after many conversations and compromises, being his girlfriend might not be so bad after all.
Bought tickets to see the Eagles, Dixie Chicks, Keith Urban, James Taylor, Carole King, and Fiddler on the Roof with Harvey Fierstein.
Started exercising and actually losing weight! Down 9 pounds!!!!
Started teaching Myles how to drive
Reconnected with an old high school friend who we shall call Joseph. Not Joe, Joseph.
Was responsible for Myles's first car accident while trying to teach him how to drive a manual transmission.
Was reminded in a very sharp, stinging way why Sheldon and I cannot be in a romantic relationship.
Ate Easter breakfast and dinner outdoors on the front porch because the weather in Virginia is absolutely perfect.

10 Things to look forward to in 2010

2010-01-03T11:37:00.002-05:00

34 days until the Superbowl!
39 days until Olympics start in Vancouver!
55 days until the beginning of the NASCAR season at the Daytona 500!
71 days until Miles can get his learner's permit!
75 days until the first day of SPRING!
90 days until Opening Day for Baseball!
96 days until my 45th birthday!
168 days until the first day of SUMMER!
224 days until Miles' 16th birthday!
301 days until Katy's birthday!

Things Change...

2009-12-26T18:01:00.004-05:00

If you know me, then you know that things have changed in my life...again.

I am single once more and I am moving once more. Sheldon and I didn't work as a couple. We tried, we really did, but the more time went by, the more clear it was to me that I was losing all the best parts of myself in an effort to make him happy. I packed up my neccessities and my dog and left him last Sunday as soon as the snow stopped and the driveway was clear.

I have moved in with my mama, at least temporarily. She wants me to stay here and she isn't charging me rent, so it is definitely a good place to rest and recoup and make some decisions about my future. As soon as the side streets are cleared of snow I will hire a truck and get all my furniture and the rest of my "stuff" out of Sheldon's house. I'll have to put it in storage as Mama's house is stuffed to the gills already.

Right now, I feel like I can breath again, and that is a VERY GOOD feeling!

Christmas Letter from Jesus

2009-12-14T16:21:00.002-05:00

As most of you know I stopped celebrating xmas several years ago because I am horrified every year by the materialism and me, me, me attitude that grips Americans every year at this time. The stress and frenzy of baking and shopping and party after gathering after potluck is not how I want to spend my holidays or any day of the year. I stepped off the merry-go-round and have no desire to step back on, although my friends and family call me a scrooge and refuse to listen to me when I tell them not to buy me any gifts. You'd think by now they would know that I mean what I say and I say what I mean. I did not ask for anything, I do not want anything and I will not buy anything. I will play a game with you, I will watch a movie with you, I will go out to dinner with you or cook dinner for you. I will talk with you on the telephone or read your email and write you back. I will tell you about all the best books I read this year or ask you about your adventures.

Someone emailed me the following "letter from Jesus" and although I'm not usually the type to be quoting scripture but I really felt like a lot of these points needed to be seen.

Dear Children,
It has come to my attention that many you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival. Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own.

I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Now, having said that let Me go on. If it bothers you that the town in which you live doesn't allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santa's and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn't be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.

Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing Obama complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary - especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest.

Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember:

I LOVE YOU,
JESUS

~Earthly Author Unknown~

Orange Bowls or What I Made for Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T16:57:00.003-05:00

I saw this idea online and although I used the same ingredients I made a much smaller batch. They turned out perfectly and were a hit at my Aunt's Thanksgiving Feast. I will definitely make them again. The hardest part was making the orange bowls, but that wasn't hard so much as a tedious. I have never been a fan of sweet potatoes or yams (didn't even know they were two different things before) but I did like this and wanted more when I finished mine.

Ingredients:
6 oranges
2 large sweet potatoes
2 large yams
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tbsp. orange juice concentrate
2 tbsp. honey
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
12 marshmallows

Directions:
Cut 6 oranges in half and remove the meat of the orange, creating 12 hollow bowls. Fill a 9x13 glass baking pan with all the bowls. Peel sweet potatoes and yams and cut into chunks, boil for about 15 minutes or until tender; drain and mash until very smooth. Blend the orange juice, OJ concentrate, honey, butter and cinnamon; stir into the bowl and and mix well. Fill each orange bowl with the yam/sweet potato mixture. Put one marshmallow on top of each. Put the pan in the oven for 20 minutes or so til the marshmallows start to melt and turn brown.

The Dock

2009-10-31T12:47:00.002-04:00

Sheldon and I had a date night last night and it was so nice. First I met up with him and some of his co-workers at a local Irish Pub. There was live music and the bar was crowded but not packed. His co-workers were hilarious and they loved listening to me tell stories on Sheldon. After a few more beers for them and a yummy whiskey sour for me we parted ways and Sheldon and I headed out to dinner. One of our favorite restaurants is The Dock in Lansdowne. One of our first dates was to this restaurant and I have loved it every time we eat there. It isn't frou frou at all, but the food is original and completely, completely, completely YUMMY! If you ever come to my area, I highly recommend you give it a try. Sheldon always seems to choose the same meal, pork chops, but I have had something different every time. Last night I ate jumbo sea scallops with a chile lime glaze served over pasta with marinated tomatoes and lobster sauce. It was the perfect amount of food, I could have eaten more, but I wasn't still hungry. I would have gladly licked my plate if I could have gotten away with it!

The Cost of College

2009-10-30T10:14:00.004-04:00

Being back in school AND being the mom of a teenager, I am keenly aware of the cost of college tuition. The X and I invested in the Virginia Pre-paid College Tuition program when Miles was in 2nd grade and I am so glad we did. Paying for college is still an issue though, because we still have to pay his room and board and if he goes out of state we'll have to pay anything over the highest virginia tuition. Since his college years are only about 30 months away I have really started thinking and talking about this topic with Miles. Today I found a link on CNN.com that gave the list of the ten most expensive schools in the nation:

Sarah Lawrence $55,788

Parsons School of Design $52,400

Georgetown $52,161

NYU $51,993

George Washington University $51,775

Johns Hopkins University $51,690

Columbia $51,544

Weslyan $51,432

Trinity $51,400

Washington University in St. Louis $51,329

This list made me curious as to what the schools in Virginia were charging these days. I am a student at George Mason Unversity, but I am only taking one class at a time (which runs almost $1,000) but I needed to see the full time tuition to compare. I clicked another link on CNN.com that took me to a site where you can check the tuition of most any school in any state. I found the Virginia list pretty shocking for its disparity. I guess I never really knew the difference between the costs of the private schools in Virginia vs. the state schools. We are so lucky here in that we have so many fabulous state schools in our lovely commonwealth. After reading this list, I'm just not sure why anyone would go to one of the private schools, unless it was in their own backyard, or their parents worked there, or they had a full boat scholarship. I mean seriously, Ferrum and Bridgewater each cost 4 times as much as Va. Tech or Mason. Are you really getting a better education?

From my own family, I know that personality and school size are important factors too. My sister wanted a small school, it just fit her personality and learning style better. She went to Roanoke College which happens to be where my father went as well. It is a beautiful school and Roanoke is one of my favorite areas of Virginia, but I personnally would not be able to justify the cost. My sister reads this blog so let me say right now that I am not passing judgment on her decision but I'm curious as to how she feels about it now that she's out in the "real world" and having to pay back student loans? Katy? Feel free to comment...

BTW, Katy has her own blog now so skip on over there if you'd like to follow the life of a young single girl in Brooklyn!

Guard Your Energy

2009-10-22T16:16:00.000-04:00

The raw material of personal performance and productivity is contained in your physical, mental and emotional energies. Your body is like a machine that uses food, water, and rest to generate energy that you then use to accomplish important tasks in your life and work. When you are fully rested, for example, you can get two time, three times, and five times as much done as when you are tired or burned out.

One of the most important requirements for being happy and productive is for you to guard and nurture your energy levels at all times.

From the book “Eat That Frog!” by Brian Tracy

Stationary

2009-10-21T17:56:00.002-04:00

I read this post today about letterwriting and it so took me back to my teen years and my Ziggy stationary. I thought you might like Vicki as well. I think she writes so eloquently.

http://vickichicki.blogspot.com/2009/09/pen-pals.html

I used to write letters all the time. I had penpals in Korea and England that I got in my Girl Scout Magazine. I saved all the letters and cards I ever received for years and years, but cleaned out a closet during my divorce and pitched it all.

I get my stationary and pen fix now by finding beautiful notecards at museum shops and sending thank you notes to everyone for everything. I have even taking to writing to my favorite novelists after every good book. My handwriting has always been atrocious but my ink and notecards are delicious!

How Much Would YOU Spend?

2009-10-21T17:42:00.003-04:00

One of the blogs I read every day is Give Me Back My Five Bucks, which is written by a young Canadian girl who paid off all her debt and is living a wonderful debt-free life. She posted this list of how much money she would spend on certain things: http://www.krystalatwork.com/2009/10/what-are-you-comfortable-spending.html

I found her list facsinating and thought I'd post my own list...but I'm adding what I usually spend as well as my limit:

Purse: $10 - $80
Wallet: $5 - $35
Winter jacket: $85 - same
A pair of knee-high boots: $50 - $80
A casual but not formal dress: $30 - $60
Formal dress: can't even imagine buying such a thing but I guess I'd spend $150 if I had too.
Pants (inc. jeans): $35 - $60
Computer: $1,500 - 3,000
Sneaks: $25 - $150

My limits are quite a bit lower than Krystal's but I think that is at least partly because I buy a lot of stuff at thrift stores and so pay much less. I went for years never paying more than $8 for jeans because I always found perfect jeans at the Salvation Army store near my office. I also have gotten purses for years and years at KMart for $10, but this year I found a darling purse I had to have at Filene's basement downtown. It cost $80 which almost choked me and will prolly horrify Sheldon, but I have loved it each and every day and I get compliments on it all the time.

I found this to be a very interesting exercise...you should try it!

Weightloss Plan (again)!

2009-10-16T12:18:00.003-04:00

I have been struggling with 30 pounds for 3 years now. I put it on when my doc put me on a medication for anxiety. I gained 30 pounds in 6 months. Even the doc was shocked because as she said at the time "You NEVER gain weight!" Yeah, I know. I never had, other than when I was pregnant. I never had to worry, I could eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and nothing stuck. So when I visited my doc in a panic about the gain she changed my meds and I stopped gaining, but I also never lost.

30 pounds is a lot. It is two jeans sizes. It is more than that though. It is pride, it is self confidence, it is sex appeal. For 40+ years of my life I wasn't worried about any of those things in a physical sense, but now I worry about all of the above. I have tried to lose the weight, but nothing I have done so far has made a dent.

Last night I started reading "Eat That Frog!" by Brian Tracy and came up with a plan. Brian says to take every goal and break it down into smaller pieces, see what you can accomplish on a daily basis to make your long term goals happen. So here is the math that I figured out to make my goal happen:

I want to lose 30 pounds in six months, which the same rate at which I gained it. That comes out to 5 pounds a month or .166 pounds a day. There are approximately 2.5 ounces in .166 pounds.
There are 3500 calories in a pound so to lose 2.5 ounces I need to burn approximately 550 calories. Riding a bike for 10 minutes burns 80 calories so to lose the 550 calories I'll need to ride for one hour a day. Since I invested in a recumbant exercise bike last month I actually already have the equipment I need. Now I just have to force myself downstairs EVERY DAY for one hour to make this happen.

I actually did ride the bike every day the first week I had it, but then I started my second job and just didn't have enough energy to keep it up. After three weeks at the new job, I think I have stabilized my schedule and my energy output enough that I can get back on the bike. If the bike was in the family room or the bedroom instead of the basement I don't think I would have an issue, but to actually make myself go downstairs and set up the computer so that I can watch tv usually takes more effort than I feel like expending. Sigh.

Here's the thing though, it is totally do-able. I can ride the bike for 60 minutes a day. I watch at least 120 minutes of tv a day, I will just have to force myself to do it in the basement, alone. Cause I will beat this! I will!

Television

2009-10-15T21:11:00.002-04:00

I have been enjoying tv in all my busyness thanks to the glory of DVR! Have y'all seen:

Glee
Sons of Anarchy
The Closer
Saving Grace
18 Kids and Counting
Big Bang Theory
Two and a Half Men

There are more but that was all I can remember...lame-o, I know...

crochet girl

2009-10-15T21:01:00.002-04:00

As if I don't have enough on my plate I started a crochet class at my day job today! It was so much fun. I love to crochet and I love to teach others. I think needlework is such an important thing for all of us on a cultural level. It is also so so SO relaxing to work with your hands. I think of crocheting as therapy with a gift at the end. I enjoyed spending an hour with 4 of my co-workers that I didn't know very well. One of them I had never met before. We laughed and talked the whole time.

It is an ongoing class, every Thursday at noon. Today we only did chain stitch, that was all they could handle. :)

Baby Sis

2009-10-15T20:54:00.003-04:00

So my Baby Sister moved to NYC!!! She also started a blog, so if you would like to read about her adventures you can go HERE!

I am so proud of her because she is not the type to run off on wild adventures.

I am also jealous because I absolutely adore New York and would love to be living there myself. I even dreamed last night that I had moved up there with another friend to help her and her roommate pay rent until they both had jobs.

I can't wait to load Mama in the car and take her up there to visit!!!

Update

2009-10-15T20:41:00.003-04:00

Hi Peeps!

I know, I know, I haven't written in a while. Sheldon has been complaining about my lack of posting and he lives with me so he knows how busy I have been! I am now working two jobs and taking a horrible, horrible math class. I'm not even sure where to start with my updating...

1. Job number one is fabulous. I am a receptionist for a Aerospace Engineering company. I took the downgrade in responsibility so that I could take classes and finally finish my degree. I love it! I love just being able to sit and answer the phone and sort the mail and be nice to people all day long. We are a 24 hour facility so I can even get overtime. The bad part is that I took a 45% paycut. Ugh.

2. Job number two is a retail job at an upscale women's clothing outlet. It is physically exhausting but fun. My favorite spot is folding/hanging clothes in the dressing room. I can stand in one place (which kills my back but is so much easier on my feet) and help the women who are trying to make decisions. I took this job to earn extra money to pay for repairs on my car and tuition.

3. I'm back to taking classes at my college of 26 years. I only need 9 classes to get my English degree. I love being back at school, but I hate my class. Unfortunately for me, Sheldon decided to go back for his second masters degree at the same time so although I thought I'd have my own personal math tutor, he is too distracted by his own homework to help me with mine. I am the oldest person in the room each week by at least 10 years and that includes the professor!

4. Due to all of the above I am physically and mentally exhausted. To make things even worse I have been having trouble sleeping.

This is a very whiny post...sorry! More to come!!!!

Last Weekend of the Summer!

2009-09-21T09:41:00.002-04:00

It was a GREAT weekend! It was our weekend withOUT the kids and it was my last free weekend before I start my new weekend retail job. I got to enjoy all my favorite things. Friday night we had an official date night. We went to a new restaurant that Sheldon has been dying to try. He loves brew pubs and had tasted Dogfish Head Ale at two different beer festivals. We were planning on going to the local Dogfish Head Ale House (I call it Dog Breath, cause that name is just a tongue twister!) in Seven Corners but when he went online to get directions he discovered that there was a newer one in Chantilly. We jumped in the car and headed over there. There was a wait but it was well worth it! The food was absolutely delicious! I had a burger and he had a steak sandwich and they just hit the spot. He was drinking the Chicory Stout which is coffee flavored. He loved it. I thought it was nasty, but I don't like beer that much to begin with, so don't ask me. That being said I drank the Festiva Peche because I discovered in Oregon that I like fruit beers. The peach beer was good, it had a sour taste, like lemonade but different. Kind of indescribable, but good and I drank the whole thing which is VERY unusual for me.

On the back of the menu was an invitation to visit the brewery in Millford, Delaware. Sheldon's eyes lit up and he crowed "ROAD TRIP!" as soon as he read that. We made a plan to hit the road by 8am on Saturday. We headed home and hit the bed.

Saturday I got up extra early to research the hours and directions to the brewery and to find some letterboxes in the area. The bad news was that the brewery was closed to tours for the weekend due to construction, but we decided to go anyway. We drove to Lewes, DE and walked around the lovely town. We found a really clever letterbox and then headed to the beach so that I could dip my toes in the ocean and watch the waves for a few minutes. Then (I know you'll be shocked) we found the Rehobeth Beach Dog Breath Alehouse. This time we ate corn and crab chowder and crab dip with french bread. It was also yummy and Sheldon was able to buy a t-shirt and a beer glass for our bar so he was thrilled. Shortly after that we headed home.

Sunday dawned bright and sunny and Sheldon headed off to work for a few hours so I enjoyed a lovely quiet morning of crocheting and catching up on my DVR shows and taking care of laundry and chores. I had started a baby afghan on drive the day before and I managed to almost finish it by the end of the day! I also did several loads of laundry, dusted, made pasta salad for work lunches and taco casserole for dinner. Late in the afternoon Sheldon and I were both working on our homework for our respective classes. I ended up SOBBING over my statistics class because I just hate it and the professor. Sheldon sat me down and went over percentages which have always stumped me and once I understood them I felt better. I still hate the class and the professor though!

We ended the night with me climbing onto Sheldon's lap while he was playing on Facebook and having a nice long talk about life and love and chores and all the important things in life.

So overall it was a fabulous weekend. I got to do all my favorite things!

Brick on the Forehead for the Men in Your Life

2009-09-11T12:00:00.001-04:00

Several jobs ago I worked with the sweetest man. I say that because he had a weekly ritual which I thought was the sweetest thing I had ever heard. Every Sunday evening he would drive each car in his driveway to a nearby gas station and fill up all the tanks. He was filling his own tank of course, but the sweet part was that he filled the tanks of his wife and daughter as well. I don’t remember how he came to tell me this story, but I asked him why he did it and he said it was just his way of letting his wife and daughter know that he loved them and wanted them to feel safe and protected and cherished. I honestly thought that this was the sweetest gesture I had ever heard. How simple. Not flowers, not a card, not money or time wasted, just taking care of an errand that all of us have to cope with. As women we do this kind of thing for our families all the time. We fold the laundry the way our loved ones prefer, or we set our daughter’s place at the table with her favorite pink plate, or we buy the snacks or sodas that our kids prefer at the grocery store. Nothing major, they don’t even realize it most of the time. It was so nice to hear of a man going out of his way for the women in his life in such a practical way. Maybe I’m too practical for my own good. I couldn’t care less about cards. I mean don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the thought but I would prefer a tank full of gas and a clean windshield that shows you love me over a $5 piece of cardboard from Hallmark that says you love me any day of the week!

If you don’t share a home or a bank account for the woman you love perhaps you could drop off her mail at the post office or pick up her dry cleaning. Before Sheldon and I moved in together he would always buy me a 12-pack of soda when he bought one for his house. This was thoughtful because soda was not something I kept in the house, but he liked to have one and my son loved having it available as well.

When I was little my mama always drank hot tea. Always. We also always had iced tea with dinner. Tea was definitely the drink in my house. But every now and then my dad would make mama a gin and tonic. I never knew why he did it but she was always grateful and she always drank it with relish (the emotion, not the condiment). I was grown before I realized that those gin and tonics came once a month. Duh.

My point? Well, be nice. Be appreciative. Show your love in real concrete ways and not just on holidays. There are many nice things you can do and you shouldn’t need me to list them for you. Look around. Pay attention. See what frustrates her or wears her out and then do what you can to ease that burden. Women as a whole knock ourselves out to take care of those we love, and often we don’t stop to ask for help.

Be sweet to her!! The rewards will be fabulous!!

me and my bike

2009-08-26T19:55:00.004-04:00

A few evenings ago I was sitting out on my front stoop enjoying the quiet of dusk. All the children on our street, including ours, were inside, there was no traffic and the light was almost completely gone from the sky.

As I sat there, a woman about my age, wearing a filmy white dress came halfway down our court on a bicycle. She turned around just before she got to our house and headed back out of our court. I assumed she was just exploring and continued my daydreaming. A few minutes later she caught my eye again, she was riding past the end of my court. Now I was curious. What was she doing? I kept my attention at the end of the court and watched her sail past three or four more times. It was getting darker and darker but her white dress was shining out in the dusky light that remained. She came down my street one more time, and came all the way to the end and turned around. When she rode past my stoop she spotted me and just sort of nodded her head and continued on.

I was so jealous. She seemed like she was having such fun. Her dress was blowing in the wind she created with her movement, making her look like she was flying. I wanted to do it too, but by now it was entirely too dark. I made a promise to myself to ride my bike the next evening.

The next night around 8pm I hopped on my bike and headed out of my court. I realized that she must have been circling around the courts on our hilltop so I started off to do the same thing. As I made the turn out of my court I spotted her! She and her husband were in their driveway. She was holding her bike and her husband was filling the tires for her. I waved to them both and continued down the street. I rode in and out of 3 or 4 courts and before I got back to her street she passed me going the other way. I called out "I'm copying you!" she yelled "Great!". The next time we passed each other she said "Doesn't it feel wonderful?" and I answered with a resounding "YES". I have not officially met her and don't know her name, but one of these days I have every intention of stopping by and introducing myself.

Since that first night I have done this routine several more evenings. I even set the alarm on my cell phone to go off at 7:30 so that I would have more daylight. I think this is working well as an exercise routine for several reasons:

There aren't any steep hills. Lots of small easy inclines but nothing that makes me get off and push or takes the fun out of the ride.
I can quit at any time and not have a long trek back home.
I don't have to change clothes or put on special shoes or start my car. I just open the garage door and head out.

Not only am I getting some much needed exercise and fresh air, but I am enjoying the sunsets and checking out how our neighbors decorate and landscape their homes. I have seen several houses that I want to take Sheldon past so I can ask him if we can copy them. One has a freshly painted white stoop and another has a lovely stone stoop both of which I covet.

I have also seen strange things, like the neighbor who empties his cat litter under the mailbox. Is that a statement against the US mail or the neighborhood?

I did have to stop for several days though because I put my back out and didn't want to aggravate it further. I'm better today though and hoping to hit the street again!

The best part????

I'm down 2 more pounds on my weightloss goal!!!! WOOOOOO!!!!

Easy Stroganoff

2009-08-26T10:53:00.003-04:00

I made a new recipe the other night and although it was a little bland for dinner that night let me just tell you that the left overs were beyond fab. I just ate the last of it and wish I had more. I am sorely tempted to run to the store and get the stuff...hmmm.

I have made another crock pot stroganoff that was delicious but I don't know where I got the recipe and I can't find it now. This one is truly easy.

one can cream of mushroom soup, diluted

one can beef broth

1 pound stew beef cut into 1" pieces

1 cup sour cream

The recipe called for 2 cups cooked noodles but I used 1.5 cups cooked rice, your choice.

Combine soup, broth and meat in the crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours then cook on low for 3-4 more hours. Stir in the rice and sour cream and cook on high for 20 minutes. I didn't think to do this until after noon so I browned the meat first and then just cooked it on high for the 4 hours and low for 2 more hours.

As I said it was a little bland, but marvelous comfort food.

I heart cloth diapers...

2009-08-25T17:51:00.003-04:00

This is a small soapbox moment, not a dig at anyone who uses or used disposable diapers. It was only by using cloth diapers and breast feeding that I was able to stay home with my son for two and half years. For that whole first year he was basically free. He never tasted formula and never even had a bottle in his mouth. I taught him how to drink out of a straw when he was two months old and that was how he got water and juice and other liquids. I know that probably sounds extreme, but I knew from the beginning what a hard-headed child I had, and my fear was that he would like the "easiness" of a bottle nipple and never go back. I stand by that decision.

When Miles was born there was no doubt I was gonna use cloth diapers. In my family it was the norm so I never gave it a second thought, I even inherited diapers from one of my aunts so I didn't have to buy anything at the beginning and only had to buy a dozen now and then when the old ones fell apart. Old ones make great dust rags by the way. My friends all thought I was crazy for using cloth but one trip down the disposable aisle at the grocery store was enough to convince me that I was only crazy like a fox. Cloth diapers save money, save the planet, are better for the baby and make potty training easier too!

August is a weird month...

2009-08-04T11:58:00.003-04:00

Hi All,
I have a confession to make. I have a love hate relationship with August. I met, married and divorced my ex husband in different Augusts. I had my baby in August. My sweetheart was born in August. It brings hot and muggy weather to my part of the universe. It signals the Summer is flying by. This year I go back to school (year 26 of my 50 year plan) on August 31st and though I am excited about being back on campus, I am also terrified that I won't be able to cut it this time.

Also, as if this isn't enough stress, I have started Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred. If today is the 4th I must be on day 4. Yikes, she is kicking my butt! She wants me to kick my own butt, but I just can't get my legs up that high. I did it in the evening Friday/Saturday/Sunday, but I skipped last night so that I could do it in the morning starting today. I'm not sure which is worse. The best part about the morning is the fact that it is DONE for today. The first night, I literally cried when I was done. The next two nights I was sore and moany, but I made it through the whole thing without tears. This morning I could hardly finish some sections but I didn't feel near as sore (no idea how that worked out!) But after my shower, all I wanted to do was climb back into bed and collapse for 5 or 6 hours. The only place I can do it is in the bedroom as we don't have a DVD player set up in the basement yet and I don't want to disturb the whole family by doing it in the family room at 4:30 in the AM. Sheldon actually got up and did it with me this morning, which was nice, but I don't know if he will continue.

The best part is that I am already down four pounds!!! Go ME!!!

He will always be my baby.

2009-08-03T07:39:00.003-04:00

My sweet baby will be 15 on the 16th of this month. He is over six feet tall and handsome and sweet as all get out. He broke his arm last Sunday skateboarding. I got to bathe him the other day for the first time since he was six. He was mortified, but it was my honor to get him into the tub, get him out of the tub, dry him off, clean his ears and get him dressed. Sometimes, just for a second, I miss those days of babyhood and boyhood. I was never a very patient mama. In fact, I didn't really want to be a mama. I'm glad his dad convinced me to try though. He is definitely the finest thing I have ever done.

I heart cross stitch!

2009-07-31T14:03:00.002-04:00

Gotta love this! I really like that pattern and am already picturing it as my valentine wreath!!!!

Pacific Northwest Vacation: Day SEVEN

2009-07-31T12:35:00.003-04:00

Yes, it is almost over, I know you are as happy as I was. Day seven I was bored. I was done with trees and mountains and my butt was sore after hours and hours of riding in the car. The heatwave, heatwave (jazz hands) had really and truly arrived and the temps were in the triple digits! We were headed back to Seattle to catch our red eye flight back to the east coast. We were stuck in traffic. The funniest part about this is that the night before when I was dropping off to sleep I was thinking how happy I was travelling with my sweetheart and how I never wanted to go home. I guess it was the traffic that made me cranky.

We had a yummy lunch at a quaint little diner in Raymond, WA where I had the yummiest french dip I have ever tasted. Plus my favorite part was that they offered cottage cheese as a side dish. Nice alternative to french fries!!

As we were sitting in a back up on the freeway Sheldon's phone rang. It was a former co-worker of his that he had tried to contact when we landed in Seattle. Somehow Dan had missed the message until Wednesday morning but he was glad to hear from Sheldon and they chatted for at least 30 minutes. When he realized how close we were to his house (about 20 miles) and how long we had before our flight (8 hours) he invited us over. As we pulled up in front of his house our car themometer read 110 degrees. Sheldon looked at me and said "I hope they have AC." They didn't. Dan was melting. He gave us a tour of his lovely home and then we left to hit a local watering hole that we hoped would be cooler. Um, no. It was hot there as well, but we got a booth in front of an open window and now and then we got a nice breeze.

About a half hour after we sat down Dan's lovely wife Michele showed up from work and the real fun began. She and I bonded instantly and had a blast getting to know each other. We hung out until it was time to head for the airport and then HOME!

Vacation Tips

2009-07-31T12:27:00.002-04:00

Day 4 and 5 of my vacation have blended together and evaporated from my memory. I told Sheldon that 4 days was about all I could take, but he managed to schedule our flights in such a way that he got a full 7 days out of town. I thought I would take a small break from my narrative of the vacation to share some tips I learned this trip.

Things to remember on vacation:

1. all chargers for everything that ever needs a charger
2. computer/car stereo cord in case the rental car has an outlet
3. hiking boots or sneakers
4. socks
5. warm jacket and at least one warm top
6. plenty of reading material, preferably e-books
7. dohicky to connect carry-on bag to suitcase so I can lug my stuff through the airport without breaking my shoulder

Pacific Northwest Vacation: Day Four

2009-07-31T12:17:00.002-04:00

Day Four (Sunday)
We didn’t stay out too terribly late at the wedding and we didn’t drink much either because we knew we had a full day on Sunday. We hopped out of bed bright and early and headed into downtown Portland. I had discovered several weeks earlier that there was a brewfest in town that day and Sheldon had been researching it and found out that there was a bike tour of the city that went through several neighborhoods and told the history AND pointed out nine breweries. Needless to say we jumped at the chance to do that!

Oh! What! Fun!

Our tour guide was a great guy who could be Morgan Spurlock’s younger brother. His name was Miles and he did a great job. At first there were five of us on the tour, me and Sheldon and then a girl and her boyfriend who were locals and her mother who was visiting. The bike ride was advertised as an easy nine mile trek and it was exactly that. After we had gone a mile or so the company van showed up and dropped off another rider. Now the first thing you need to know is that if I am on any kind of tour I always like to stay close to the tour guide because you can hear everything he says and in between stops you can ask other questions and learn more about the area. Well the new girl was the same way. At first this irritated me because I had been right on Miles’ back wheel the whole way and suddenly I had competition. I relaxed after a little while though, because I realized that she was exactly like me and was doing the exact same thing for the exact same reason. Her name was Kim…more on her later. :)

As we were biking through town enjoying the scenery and the beautiful architecture and weather we came upon a bright pink panel van. The name of the company was VooDoo Donuts and Miles immediately stopped and encouraged us all to have a donut. Although I had never heard of them they are a Portland tradition and people come from all over to have them. This was a mobile shop but they have a real shop in town and Miles told us we were lucky to come upon the van because the regular shop always has a line out the door. Although we hadn’t eaten breakfast I really wasn’t hungry and wasn’t all that interested in the donuts. I must have been suffering from brain damage because I’m pretty sure that it was the first time in my life I didn’t want a donut. Anyway, Miles kept talking and describing the various donuts and pretty soon I was calling out to Sheldon who was standing in line to get me one. The one I chose was called a VooDoo Doll and it was beyond delicious. It was shaped like a person and was filled with marionberry filling with chocolate icing on top and a pretzel stake through the heart.

It. Was. Beyond. Yummy.

This was probably the point where Kim and I bonded. She took a picture of my donut. We all gathered under a tree to eat our donuts and she and I started chatting. The tour ended back at the brewfest which was just getting started. We got our mug and map and stood there trying to figure out where to start. Kim was right there with us. Turns out that she is a Travel Nurse and is on assignment in Salem, OR and was there alone. We immediately invited her to hang with us and she was glad for the company. The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering from tent to tent and beer keg to beer keg tasting microbrews. We were each given four tokens with our mugs which would buy you either a full mug of beer or 4 tastes of different beers. Sheldon and Kim bought more tokens later on, but four tokens suited me just fine. I actually loved being able to get a little at a time because beer usually gets hot long before I finish it. I tasted a peach beer and a watermelon beer that I loved and a third one that I wasn’t so fond of. My last token was spent on another serving of the peach which was my favorite. I managed to get pretty sunburned even though I did my best to stay in the shade all day. I have to say though, that one of the benefits of getting older is that sunburns don’t bother me anymore. When I was a kid they were torture, but now they don’t even hurt and they fade away pretty quickly. I don’t think I’ll even peel this time.

By the time the festival was over I had bonded for life with Kim and we had exchanged Facebook and email information to stay in touch. She actually took most of the pictures I have of that day! Sheldon and I headed back to our hotel and hit the showers and went in search of dinner. We ended up at another brewpub, they are EVERYWHERE out there.

Pacific Northwest Vacation: Day Three

2009-07-29T14:37:00.004-04:00

Day Three (Saturday)

We heated up our blueberry bread in the hotel microwave and enjoyed that treat immensely. Then we set out to find some letterboxes. We were looking for indoor letterboxes or ones without a real hike because I had not brought hiking boots or sneakers in an effort to pack light. I actually enjoy the letterboxes left in businesses and I like to support the businesses that support letterboxing. We found that one business was gone, but the second was the Iron Mutt coffee shop and that one was lovely. Then we found one planted in a family’s front yard. It had been planted by a grandma and her daughter on mother’s day. The daughter happened to be visiting again on the day we were there and when they saw us outside they came running out to exchange stamps. They were so cute. I know I would have done exactly the same thing and Sheldon and I have already planned to plant a letter box in our front yard too.

While we were exploring the town of Beaverton, Oregon I called my friend Margo who I went to high school with. I knew she lived in the Portland area but imagine our delight when it turned out that our hotel was right across the street from her house. Sheldon and I headed back to the hotel and Margo picked me up and took me to Acorns and Threads a local cross stitch store. I have discovered in the past that shopping in local cross stitch stores while on vacation is a very enjoyable pursuit. I’m not sure that any group of women laughs more often or laughs harder than a group of stitchers! This shop had table set up outside in a breezeway and at least twelve women had set up shop out there and were enjoying the breeze and one another’s company while they stitched.

I have to interrupt this story to tell you that the weather reports for the Pacific Northwest during this time was calling for a HEATWAVE (jazz hands) but up to this point the temps hadn’t gotten out of the mid 70’s, so Sheldon and I were getting a big laugh out of the HEATWAVE (jazzhands).

Margo and I were hardly inside the store before one of the ladies who worked there was talking to us like long lost sisters and explaining how to find everything. She had bunches of things that I liked and tons of finished projects on the walls that I was drooling over. We stayed and poked around until we absolutely had to leave to get Margo to work on time. I bought one new project and Margo even bought small thing to try. She has never really been in to cross stitch but she decided to give it a try in my honor.

She dropped me back at the hotel and Sheldon and I went out on some errands and found one more box at a Baskin Robbins. I was so happy about this one because the employee who handed us the box was SO ENTHUSIASTIC when he handed it to us. Seeing other people act as goofy as me always makes me happy!!!

We headed back to the hotel and got showered and changed for the wedding and headed out to a lovely wedding grove at a local brewery. I got introduced to several of Sheldon’s high school friends who I have heard tons of stories about and then we got seated. At this point the temperature was probably in the high 90’s and the locals were melting. We were pretty hot too, but it was normal July weather for Virginia and it wasn’t NEAR as humid as it can get in the DC area! I’m sure the bride was wondering why her wedding day had to be the hottest day of the year.

Speaking of the bride she had on the most gorgeous dress and hat combination. I will upload pix if I can. It was taupe colored and just lovely. We had actually seen her in the parking lot and although I was pretty sure she was the bride, Sheldon was convinced she must be the mother of the bride because it didn’t look gowny at all.

After the ceremony we headed around a group of trees to a lovely set up of tables and chairs and a bar and a dance floor. We stood around in the shade and drank cool drinks while we waited for the sun to go down and the tables to be in the shade. As the night wore on it cooled down some but it was still pretty warm for Oregon. We were seated at a table with Sheldon’s friends and their wives and I really enjoyed getting to know them. The groom was also a friend of his from high school. I am always worried that I will stick my foot in my mouth or completely embarrass myself some other way when I am meeting a new group like that, but I think I did okay this time.

Pacific Northwest Vacation: Day Two

2009-07-29T14:36:00.005-04:00

Day Two (Friday)

We headed out of Seattle towards Portland. We had our eyes peeled for a breakfast restaurant. We discovered that Marie Callender’s which is a frozen food company in our area, is an actual restaurant out there. We stopped there and were so enamored of the yummy blueberry bread, that we actually took two more mini loaves with us. (I had the quiche which was yummy, yummy and I wish they made it for my local freezer section.) We left there and hit the highway. Seattle and Portland are not far apart at all but we actually took a detour. Sheldon had been researching things to do and had never been to Mt. Rainier in his previous visits. This was the first of many times that his new iPhone came in handy! We were able to use the GoogleMaps function to find our way. Much better than a map because it shows you where you are at all times.

Mt. Rainier is incredibly beautiful and the mountains in Oregon and Washington are nothing like the mountains in Virginia. We stopped at a couple waterfalls and took pictures and then we went to the Visitor Center in Paradise. It was really breathtaking, and they had a lovely interactive display and a movie that explained the history of the area and the dangers of the mountain. Eventually I had to drag Sheldon away before he took off hiking with one of the groups that was headed up higher. I had packed as light as possible for the plane trip (didn't want to check my bag) and had no hiking boots or sneakers with me and I damn sure wasn’t gonna hike in my flip flops!

On our way back down we stopped at a lovely restaurant beside the road, the Copper Creek Inn. The menu said they were world famous for their blackberry pie and we soon found out why. The rest of the food was fine but the pie alone was definitely worth the stop! We left the mountain behind and headed into the outskirts of Portland and found our third hotel of the trip. Luckily this hotel had free wifi cause I was starting to really MISS my internet!

Pacific Northwest Vacation: Day One

2009-07-29T14:34:00.005-04:00

Sheldon and I travelled to Washington and Oregon this week on a lovely vacation. The reason we chose this area at this time is that one of Sheldon's high school friends was getting married. I had never been to the pacific northwest before but Sheldon already loved it.

Day One (Thursday)

Actually we’ll start with the night before day one. We spent the night at a hotel in Baltimore because it was cheaper to park at the hotel than at the airport and because we wouldn’t have to get up quite so early in the morning. We woke up at 4:30am, which is my normal wake up time. Our plane left the ground around 7am. Luckily we were both able to sleep on the plane and it seemed like the five hour flight only took two hours. When we got off the plane in Seattle we were in for a shock; it was about 65 degrees! We were not dressed for 65 degree temps in July! We had both brought jackets but that did little to dispel the cold. A hot breakfast at a lovely cafe and some brisk walking made everything better. I had a sausage and egg croissant and Sheldon had vanilla French toast.

We walked through Pike Place Market, which is a combination craft show and fish market on the water front. We saw lots of pretty things but didn’t buy anything. Then we walked through town a little and found the Waterfall Park, which is a small hidden oasis in the middle of the city. It was a long walk back to the car but then only a couple of blocks to our second hotel of the trip. Once we got settled into the hotel we headed out again on foot in search of a brew pub that Sheldon had read about. It was the Pyramid Brewery and I got to taste the first of several yummy beers. This one was an Apricot Lager and I really liked it. After a few hours of beer and snacks and conversation we walked back towards the waterfront to have dinner at Elliott’s, which we had heard was worth the stop. It was a nice venue and the waitstaff was fantastic but the food was really nothing to write home about and it was very expensive. (Sheldon had raw oysters and steamed mussels and I had fried oysters.) We walked back to our room UPHILL and crashed.

I love a good chic flick!

2009-07-21T12:13:00.004-04:00

Rent "A Walk on the Moon" immediately! Go ahead, I'll wait. It is so good. I had never even heard of it until Netflix recommended it to me, so I added it to my list and it made its way to the top of the queue and I loved it. Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, Anna Paquin, Tovah Feldshuh and a voice cameo by Julie Kavner. Set in the summer of 1969, the summer of love, the summer of the moon walk. Cool music, funny lines, great period piece, great story. You can thank me later.

Rambling Thoughts on the Sidewalk

2009-07-20T09:46:00.003-04:00

I was just out on the sidewalk, walking down the street to a local deli for some grits, and these are the rambly directions my mind went...

>The weather here in DC has been so fabulous this summer it is almost indecent! It hasn't gotten too terribly hot and the humidity has been completely reasonable. This is especially good news since I have to sit on a street corner in the sun every afternoon at 3pm for 20 minutes, and when I get to my car I have no air conditioning.

>There are several bus companies here that offer cheap service directly to NYC. One of them picks up and drops off right outside my building. Miles and I have taken this bus and it is marvelous, they even give you a bottle of water when you board. Anyway, everytime I see a line of people out there I just want to run over and say "Have a great time in New York!! I'm SO jealous!!" So far I have restrained myself, but one of these days it will happen.

>Grits are manna from heaven. I love them. I especially love them when there are over easy eggs cut up on top with lots of salt and butter. I make no apologies for this

>I have become slightly obsessed with the Duggar Family recently. I started watching the show because I wanted to see how that family compared to the Gosselin family. Well, there is no comparison. The fact that the Duggar's popped their babies out one or two at a time means that they had breathing room between each one and that about half of their 18 are over the age of 10 and able to help with the babies. I love the show. I love watching the family interact. Michele, the mom seems so loving and patient and calm. I feel renewed just watching her. The one thing that sort of puts me off though is that all the girls wear skirts all the time. No pants allowed. Why? Don't get me wrong, I love skirts too, they can be much cooler and more comfortable and I'm so glad that maxi-dresses are in style because long full dresses are my favorite for comfort and modesty. Buy why can't a girl wear slacks? The the thing that occurred to me while I was walking was how lucky those girls are though. They don't have separate closets. When they take clothes out of the dryer they hang it all up in one central closet that everyone uses. This way they are not always moving clothes from closet to closet as children outgrow things. I think this is brilliant! Basically this means that all the teenage girls get to "shop" for an outfit every day from the whole collection of skirts and tops that the family owns.

>I bought a new top at Costco yesterday and I love it completely. It is a 3/4 sleeve, jewel neckline with little jewels down one side. The pattern is a funky blue/green/grey design. I absolutely adore it. I caught my reflection in a window and thought how this top is SO me!

>I watched "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" last night on Netflix and I highly recommend it! I wish there were gorgeous parrots flying around Washington! All we have are ugly pigeons and Presidential Helicoptors.

A Poem About Toilets

2009-07-16T14:59:00.002-04:00

I have decided that since
I hate cleaning bathrooms so much
I will clean them in pieces
Last night I did all the mirrors
Tonight I will do all the toilets
I was spoiled at the condo
I had only one bathroom
Now I have five
FIVE

My Michael Jackson Soundtrack

2009-07-07T19:36:00.004-04:00

I tried not to do it, but I just can't stop myself. Here is the MJ soundtrack of MY life:

ROCK WITH YOU: was the first song I ever danced to in public. My friend Edwina Binaca, (the blast that lasts all night) and I used to go to a club in Front Royal called JB's to dance. I had a huge crush on one of the dj's and would hang out with him while Edwina Binaca danced. I was way to chicken to dance. After a time, guys started asking me to dance, but I kept refusing. The dj didn't share my feelings, so he started encouraging me to dance as well. He helped me choose a song for my big debut. I honestly don't remember the actual dance, but every time we were there the dj would play the song and Edwina would send over guys to ask me.
BILLIE JEAN: Edwina and I went to visit her older brother Chuckles in Washington, DC one weekend and saw this new thing called MTV. We didn't have cable or MTV in our small little town. We were fascinated and mesmerized.
PYT: At 18 I started dating a man in his 30's. He lived in Baltimore and I was completely over the moon. I went to visit him one weekend and he put this song on the record player just for little ole me. Yes, I am old. When I was 18 cd players didn't exist. People still bought those big vinyl circles that warped and scratched and sounded like chipmunks if you played them on the wrong speed.
SHE'S OUT OF MY LIFE: This was the song that I always wanted guys to listen to and cry when they suffered with broken hearts over me, but in reality I mooned over it and cried to it a lot, and I'll bet none of them ever gave me a second thought!
GONE TOO SOON: When I met my ex husband he and I were both 24, his sister was 16, mine was eight. Five years later his sister was killed on her 21st birthday which is another story for another day. At the age of 28 while literally days pregnant, having never lost anyone close to me who was younger than 80, I had to plan her funeral. Her parents and brothers were too devastated to make any decisions. One night driving from my fil's house to our apartment this song came to mind as the perfect song to play at the funeral. Needless to say everyone agreed with me.
MAN IN THE MIRROR: I'm a Mama. What mama doesn't look down into her sleeping baby's face and wonder how she can let the world continue to spiral out of control? This song spoke to that need to make whatever change I could. It is something I try to live by every day of my life.

Bye Michael. I'm glad you are not suffering anymore. Sleep well.

such GLEE!

2009-06-30T08:58:00.004-04:00

Good Morning My Peeps! Yes I am shouting out loud today! I stopped by BooMama this morning and was treated to a helping of GLEE! I can't tell you how fast that jump started my day! Glee stars the lovely and talented Lea Michele who I loved so in Spring Awakening on Broadway. I am excited that Spring Awakening is on tour now! Sheldon and I are going to see it again on August first at the Kennedy Center here in lovely Washington, DC!

I loved Glee, they aired the pilot the other night on Fox and the full episode can be seen on http://www.hulu.com/, which may be my new favorite website!

So, watch Glee, buy tickets for Spring Awakening and call me in the morning!

Turkey Dinner

2009-06-22T11:31:00.003-04:00

Last week Sheldon and I bought a small turkey to roast. We had decided that we both love turkey and that it is a shame that it is only trotted out on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sheldon actually did all the cooking which is one of the reasons I love him, I like being fed without always having to do all the work! He roasted the turkey with a cut up lime stuffed inside and lime juice on the skin, about halway through the roasting time in put quartered potatoes (skin on) around the edge of the pan. Then he made Rachael Ray's cranberry salsa which consists of dried cranberries, chicken stock, onion and lime juice. It was absolutely divine. Since it was a relatively small turkey it only had to roast for 90 minutes or so. The next day we had turkey sandwiches for lunch, today I have leftovers at work for lunch and there is still plenty left for more sandwiches. I may even make some turkey salad. Sheldon threw the carcus out before I could stop him but next time I will make some turkey and rice soup in the crockpot for lunches. He's not a big fan of soup but I am!!!

Drug of Choice

2009-06-19T09:59:00.005-04:00

Cheddar Biscuits from Red Lobster

How do I love thee, let me count the ways.

I love the smell of you wafting from the bag on the seat beside me
I love the crunch of your outer shell
I love the fluffy insides
I love how you melt in my mouth, no butter needed
I love how you entice me to have another
I love how you love me even though I am fatter than I have ever been in my life
I love how I can stop at RL and buy you by the dozen without being subjected to the rest of the menu
I love how a dozen of you are cheaper than a dozen donuts
and the taste, oooooohhhhhh the taste

Elizabeth Berg, Oh how I love her...

2009-06-19T09:58:00.002-04:00

http://www.elizabeth-berg.net/site/epage/49632_662.htm

read this essay and tell me how you could NOT love her!

Taking Chance

2009-06-12T09:55:00.002-04:00

I had never heard of this movie but when Sheldon and I were in Pittsburgh over Memorial Day weekend we had HBO and this came on. We only got to watch part of it as we were on our way to go do something else, but we both really wanted to see the rest. When we got home I looked it up on Netflix and sure enough it was available. I moved it to the top of my list and we got it a few days later. We didn't get around to watching it until last night but it was worth the wait.

The movie stars Kevin Bacon and is a moving tribute to our boys at war and their long trip home when they are killed in action. It was so visually beautiful and so emotional, but never political or or graphic or hokey. The movie was based on real events and adapted from this story.

I highly recommend this movie. Three of my friends have lost sons in this war, to say Some Gave All is an understatement.

Brand Preferences

2009-06-12T09:46:00.004-04:00

BooMama just wrote a post about brand name favorites that caused quite a stir, many of us answered her with our own list. Here is mine:

Things really do taste different. My mama always bought generic or the cheapest of things, when I grew up I refused to EVER compromise when it comes to food.

Kraft Real Mayo - my ex MIL taught me to use only this. I do like Miracle Whip on sandwiches, but never NEVER in recipes.
Dannon Yogurt - cause it is the creamiest, its consistency is like pudding
Tide - cause my ex was allergic to anything else and now I’m just used to it
Jif - really does taste more like fresh peanuts
Natures Own honey wheat bread
Martins potato rolls for hotdog rolls and hamburger buns - I used to buy Martins bread too but I like the Natures Own because it is a little lighter and the slices are a little thinner
Dry Idea for more than 30 years
Helluvagood dips
Toms of Maine toothpastes - because I’m allergic to whitening ingredients and they are about the only brand that hasn’t added that to every tube!

I also only buy real butter, real maple syrup, whole milk and brown eggs.

My Sweet Sheldon thinks I’m kookie cause he doesn’t see the difference in brands, but you’d better not put anything but premium BEER in his fridge!!! :D

He just bought 2 GALLONS of fake syrup even though we still had a gallon, cause we might run out in this millenia and it was on sale.

Ladies Circle

2009-06-03T09:48:00.005-04:00

A week or so ago I decided that I wanted to get a group of women together on a regular basis to have some girl time. I live on the perfect street for this because many of the women are already close and they want to hang out with each other. Knowing that women often don't do the things they want to do because of all the things they have to do, I figured that if I hosted something maybe the ladies would stop by. I knocked on doors over the weekend and handed out invitations. Everyone was warm and enthusiastic about the idea.

Last Tuesday was our first get together. Four ladies came and it was lovely. The invitation said to bring whatever crafty thing you wanted to work on, that I had plenty of table space and lighting and we could scrapbook or crochet or whatever. Not everyone is crafty but those of us who are love a reason to sit down and work on our favorite project. I personally love crochet and cross stitch but I have attended scrapbooking crops with my crochet bag just to hang out with friends. I wanted this group to be open and welcoming to any of the ladies whether they were crafters or not. For the first night we ended up sitting at my kitchen table eating the snacks I had prepared and getting to know each other.

I'm not sure how I'm gonna handle names in this blog as I use pseudonyms for everyone except my dog and myself. I think I will confuse myself if I make up names for these ladies as I am still learning their names, not to mention the fact that I don't know them well enough to make up a new name for them! Let's try descriptions for now.

One lady is a Puerto Rican attorney with three kids. She is the type of person who questions everything, she has a very inquisitive mind and is very smart. Maybe The Closer fits her. She isn't crafty so I told her she could read to us. Before you know it we will be wearing hoop skirts and stitching by kerosene lantern.

Guest number two is a lovely British transplant who has lived in the states for over 50 years. She is small and delicate and soft spoken and yet she shocked us all by announcing that she wants to be on Dancing with the Stars! How about Ginger for Ginger Rogers, the most famous dancer I can think of...

Guests three and four are a mother and daughter originally from Indiana. The mother lives in the basement of her daughter's house with her husband of 59 years who is suffering from alzheimers. We will call her The Preacher's Wife. The daughter lives upstairs with her husband and four children, for now I'll call her the Preacher's Kid or PK.

The ladies were all completely lovely and everyone was enthusiastic about having this kind of a get together. I never specified whether I wanted to do it every Tuesday, but I think I do. This week only the Preacher's Wife came, as I said I never specified so I imagine Ginger wasn't sure whether or not I was doing it again. PK send word (and cookies) through her mom that she couldn't make it. I didn't hear from The Closer or any of the other ladies from further down the street, but I'm gonna make sure everyone knows this weekend that it will be a weekly thing.

PW and I had a lovely visit. We sat in my office/craft room and I cross stitched while she told me about her life. I asked about her children and her siblings and just let her entertain me. I don't know why I wasn't in the mood to chatter like I normally do, but I was much happier listening than talking last night. This was more noticeable later when PW left and I called the girl who lives directly across from me. She is my closest friend so far on the street. She is adorable. She is a stay at home mom of three and is orginally from this area which is unusual in the DC suburbs. Let's call her Patsy. I love that name. I called Patsy when PW left, to offer her some of the brownies I had made for everyone. She has not been able to come either week because her husband is in crunch time at his work and comes home late. Last week I took her a plate of snacks and told her all about it, this week we talked on the phone for an hour. Well, she talked, I listened. About halfway through she said "I'm babbling, usually you chew my ear off and this time I'm doing all the talking." As I said, for some reason I was just in a listening mood. It was a lovely way to spend a rainy evening, cross stitching on a project I haven't touched in months and gabbing on the phone with a girlfriend, something that no one seems to have time for anymore!

Weightloss

2009-06-03T09:42:00.002-04:00

That's correct, the chart to the left is accurately portraying the fact that I have GAINED all the weight back. I am heavier than I have ever been in my life except when I was pregnant and I'm almost caught up to that number!!!! It is obvious that when I exercise the weight falls off, so I just have to get off my butt. I really, really, really want a treadmill and a rowing machine for our home gym, but there are so many other things we are buying for the house right now that those items are pretty far down the priority list. I HAVE to do something though! I hate being this heavy, I have heartburn, I snore, my back hurts, all symptoms that I'm sure have more to do with the extra weight than to my ever advancing AGE! The fact that Sheldon is skinny as a rail doesn't help any, but even he says that my eating is fine, he's the one eating icecream every night, not me.

If nothing else I will strap on the iPod and run up and down the stairs at the house tonight!!!!

May Resolutions

2009-06-01T10:36:00.003-04:00

May Resolutions: hey, not bad, I did 9 out of 10 this month!!!!

Go to a Museum - Matt and I went to see the Jean Shin - Common Threads exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum here in DC. It was a really cool exhibit using recycled materials. There were all sorts of textures and colors and as we entered each room I would say, "Oh, this is my favorite." Each time we read the description on the wall we were blown away by the backstory. It was a VERY very interesting, thought provoking exhibit. If you live nearby GO!

Spend time with an Old Friend - I had the most amazing conversation on facebook with a bunch of folks that I went to high school with. I had had a dream about a friend of ours who died at age 42 of heart attack and we all remembered him with stories. It was lovely.

Try a New Recipe - http://sarahneverstops.blogspot.com/2009/05/bacon-bowties.html. Oh the beauty of bacon.

Spend Some Quality Family Time - had Mama, Cricket and Miles over for Mother's Day. It was a lovely visit, the first time Mama saw the new house and the first time we all saw Miles' new hair. Plus we gorged ourselves on PW goodies!

Make Sheldon Watch One Chick Flick - Somehow this man has managed to avoid every chick flick, but not for long. It is now my mission to make him watch my favorites. We started with Steel Magnolias. He said it was "Cute." humph.

visit my Mama - see number 4. :)

EXERCISE - walked for an hour Friday night and an hour Saturday morning in the neighborhood. Need to do it every day, but at least I started! (Yes I have gained ALL the weight back! YES, I need to do something!)

go letterboxing - yay! It is letterboxing season again. Sheldon and I found two in Pittsburgh! Oh what fun!

Sell Something I Don't Need Anymore - fail, but I at least made inroads in this, I did gather everything in a box in my office, now I just need to take pix and post them on craigslist.

Crochet or Cross Stitch Something - started crocheting a baby afghan for one of Sheldon's co-workers.

100 for the 100th

2009-05-21T13:07:00.004-04:00

It is my understanding that it is tradition to write 100 things about yourself for your 100th post. I am proud to say that I have reached this milestone and I have written the 100 things. I started working on this a couple of weeks ago because I knew it would take me a little while. Let the weirdness begin.

I could eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the same day, and I have.
I have always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon.
My favorite ice cream these days is Baskin Robbins World Class Chocolate.
I have wanted to travel to Iceland for many, many years and swim in the Blue Lagoon.
My absolute favorite guilty pleasure is watching the Real Housewives of New York.
I grew up in a small farming town in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia but I am a city girl at heart.
My favorite trees are Redbuds. Love the flowers, love the leaves.
I love to read and do so whenever I have a spare five minutes. My Grandma Urath taught me to carry a book everywhere I go and I am so glad she did.
I am the oldest of 3 children, we have the same parents but we were born in 3 different decades.
I am part of a Mazda family, I am driving my third Mazda, my sister drives a Mazda and Sheldon owns two Mazdas.
My first car was a baby blue '69 VW Beetle that had been bought new by my aunt and uncle when I was 3 years old. I paid my Granddaddy Palmer $250 for it in 1983 and traded it in for $250 on my first Mazda in 1988. They had kept all the gas and maintenance records for its entire life. Sadly, I didn't bother continuing the tradition.
I work on the 11th floor of a building that is only four blocks from the White House in Washington, DC. No buildings in DC are over 12 stories tall, so I get plenty of sunshine.
I haven't had caffeine since my teens. I can't tolerate it at all. I can only have chocolate during the day or I won't sleep.
I worked in a movie theatre in my small town when I was 16. I got to see all the movies for free as often as I wanted and I even got to sit in the balcony which was off limits to the general public.
I once worked in a bakery.
I was a pharmacy technician for a year after high school and toyed with the idea of going to pharmacy school.
I once kissed James Taylor's cousin. His name was Bill Taylor and he was a comedian/actor. We were 18. I didn't believe he was related to James Taylor until a couple of years later when I saw a picture of James and realized that Bill looked exactly like him.
I took part in an outdoor production of Val Balfour's Oberammergau Passion Play every Summer from age 13 to 17. Usually I was just an extra, but one Summer I was the Sound Technician. (My daddy will be so proud that I spelled that right without having to look it up!)
My first date was on my 16th birthday with a boy from out of town named David Braunshweig. It was very romantic, right down to kisses on a bearskin rug in front of a roaring fire. I wonder whatever happened to him...
I read The Stand, in three days, at age 15 while I was home from school sick with the flu. Not a good book to read when you are sick, I was scared of tunnels for YEARS!
I didn't go to prom. In fact I only went to one high school dance and that was because I was on the planning committee. I went with a gay guy who didn't want his parents to know yet. My parents on the other hand, did know.
I didn't have a boyfriend until the second half of my senior year of high school and he was from another town. His name was Chip Anderson. I wonder whatever happened to him...
I am the oldest grandchild by five years on both sides of my family.
My paternal grandparents, Flossie and Palmer, had a house on Smith Mountain Lake when I was a child and I spent all my Summers there from age 5 to 12. It is still one of my very favorite places on Earth.
I cannot wink my left eye.
I am right-handed but I iron with my left hand because Mama is left-handed and always had the ironing board set up that way.
Periwinkle is my favorite color.
I had my son when I was 29. He wore me out. I can't imagine how the women who have babies in their 40's or (shudder) 50's do it!
If money was no object and I could have one full-time employee, I would choose chauffeur hands down!
My ex brother-in-law who never liked me, said I made the best lasagna in the tri-state area.
I never learned to cook until after I left home.
I love deviled eggs. I put spinach and bacon in mine!
I met Sheldon on Match.com. I knew he was special as soon as I read his profile, I paid to join just so I could write to him.
I want to be cremated and then buried in Jerome, VA with generations of my family. I want the song "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" played at the funeral.
I grew up with cats but now I'm allergic.
I flew a helicopter for my 40th birthday. It was a beginner lesson and it was fabulous!
I never had a Caesar salad until after I turned 40 and now that is my absolute favorite. The best chicken Caesar salad in the land is made at the Lafayette Deli in Chantilly, VA.
My favorite painting is Flaming June by Frederic Lord Leighton. She lives in a museum in Puerto Rico. I saw her when she visited the National Gallery of Art here in DC. I want to visit her someday.
I graduated from high school in 1983 and then went to Lord Fairfax Community College for one year, George Mason University for three years, Towson State University for one year, back to George Mason, then Northern Virginia Community College for ASL. I'm planning on tackling my last nine classes starting this Summer. My Grandma Urath graduated when she was 78 so I'm still ahead of her record. Miles says he won't GO to college until I graduate, so I only have three more years!
It is tradition in my family to have four names. I had to get married to get my fourth name. My sister likes to remind me that when she marries she'll have five names. I'm not playing that game though. Once was enough for me.
Stephen King is my favorite author, although I love his wife Tabitha King as well.
I have been known to crochet at stop lights. I made 23 baby afghans in nine months, two years ago while commuting, for a church festival.
I love to cross stitch.
I drove a NASCAR race car on my 43rd birthday. I was scared out of my wits and never even managed to break 100 mph. I want to do it again.
I wear Chanel Chance perfume.
I don't handle stress well.
I am alergic to the whitening ingredient in toothpaste. Makes it very tricky to find toothpaste these days as almost all them have whitening in them.
Yellow roses are my favorite.
I love M&M's, Reece Cups and Mounds Bars but can't stand Milky Way.
I have been to England, France, Switzerland, Germany and Mexico in that order.
I have lived in Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia in that order.
I have visited 25 states and can't wait to see the other 25.
Other than dogs and cats I'm not a fan of critters. I'm always afraid of getting bitten or stepped on or peed on. I'd rather watch them on tv than see them, or smell them, in person.
Something in the Way She Moves by James Taylor is my all time favorite song.
I am deathly afraid of snakes.
I almost never use strange bathrooms. If I come to your house, chances are that I will not use your facilities the first five or ten times I visit. Weird, huh?
I have a thing for tall guys with deep voices.
I drink lots and lots of water every day and I have for many years.
I had a huge crush on Tom Selleck in the Magnum PI days, but I really wanted to be TC and fly the helicopter while fighting crime.
I am the adult child of an alcoholic.
I have a VERY strong sense of smell and can smell a cigar 10 cars away in traffic. I cannot even walk past Stone Cold Creamery in the mall because the smell makes me nauseous. Strong smells give me a migraine.
I love to play board games and card games. I don't care if I win or lose, I just like spending time with my people.
My Grandma Flossie made the best fried okra ever.
I love to cook. Especially in my new kitchen. With Sheldon. And my Stand Mixer.
I never tan, just freckle. I used to burn but in my 40's I seem to have outgrown it.
I have green eyes with golden centers, although for some reason Sheldon is convinced that they are blue.
I am very chatty if I know you, but I hate meeting new people.
I bought my first home computer in 1990 and had email and internet before anyone else I knew. Remember Tandy and Prodigy? I'm so glad that the rest of you caught up to me!
I am completely addicted to Packrat on Facebook and have been for almost a year now.
I got a unicycle for my 42nd birthday, but I haven't learned how to ride it yet.
I would love to own an RV and travel all over the US. Sheldon and Miles think this is the worst idea they ever heard.
I was never claustrophobic until I got pregnant at age 29, now it gets worse as I get older.
I never had motion sickness until the last year or so. I hate it!
I love "quest" games, Packrat, Post Hunt, Letterboxing...
I voted for Obama and still get goosebumps when I hear them say President Obama on the news. It makes me a little giddy that Hillary is the Secretary of State as well.
I would love to own my own tour bus/travel company. I would take busloads of people to all my favorite places. It would be so much fun. Sheldon also hates this idea.
Any medicine that is supposed to help you sleep just keeps me up all night. This didn't used to be true. I loved Nyquil back in the day. Sigh. I miss Nyquil.
I have never been drunk in my life. Ever. I don't drink very often at all and then usually only one. That first one always tastes so good, but I have found that the second is never as tasty and I've never had a third. I am a cheap date. This makes Sheldon very happy.
I like almost all types of music but not really a fan of opera, jazz or punk.
When I was a kid I really did walk 2 miles to school, uphill, both ways!!!
I am a list maker...I can't do anything without a list. I love crossing things off with highlighter when I am done.
Growing up I had one Nanny and three Grandmas, two Papas and two Grandaddys. They are all gone now, but I like to imagine them watching over me. I hope I make them proud.
I love bacon.
April and August are my favorite months of the year. I was born in April and Miles and Sheldon were born in August.
My drink of choice is Makers Mark Bourbon straight up, I sip it very slowly.
In the past 14 years I have collected over 57,000 aluminum cans for my local fire department. They use the money they raise to send burned children to camp.
I hate to scrub bathrooms.
I love to do the dishes, something about playing in the warm water and making things clean. Funny how that doesn't apply to bathrooms...
I also love laundry, the sorting, the folding, the putting it all away when it is done.
I get up at 4:25am in order to commute to the big city.
I go to bed at 9:30pm because I need plenty of sleep to function.
I much prefer Pringles and Munchos to regular potato chips.
I prefer the softness of flannel sheets all year round.
I like sleeping in a cold bedroom with lots of warm covers.
I used to sing in a praise band at my church.
I won the Miss Poppy contest put on by the American Legion in my hometown when I was 16 because my dad and his friends stuffed the ballot boxes all over town.
I am a Yankees fan and I now live with a Red Sox fan. This might be war.
My theory on having an only child is that if you do it right the first time there is no need to repeat yourself.
I ran my own direct sales business for 3 years and loved every minute of it.
I believe that Sheldon's cherry brownies are the secret to world peace, but I might be wrong, it could be the glazen raisen pretzels from Auntie Anne's.

Bacon Bowties

2009-05-21T12:56:00.005-04:00

Oh Lord
Pioneer Woman does it again. I read about these little beauties on her website last week and knew they had to be made, and soon. I bought all the ingredients (three, THREE ingredients!) and waited for an opportunity to present itself. Yesterday we had a potluck at work so I knew it was time. I made my best Grandma Iny "Spice" Cake ever and then I made THESE. Oh the yumminess! You must make these and soon.

Bus Stop Chronicles - Chapter Two

2009-05-21T12:35:00.002-04:00

My bus stop is pretty entertaining. Actually I have two bus stops, morning and evening. The morning stop was described in an earlier post as a gulag inspired firing squad set up. The afternoon stop is at a busy intersection here in Washington DC. The afternoons have been very entertaining lately and I'm not quite sure why. The weather has gotten warmer, so that is a possibility, but I have started carrying a small, folding, aluminum, 3-legged stool with me because as I noted yesterday I am OLD! Maybe that is making me notice the crazy all around me.

The first day I showed up at the morning stop with the stool the Drama Queen got all bent out of shape. The Drama Queen or TDQ is a guy who may or may not be gay, and if he is he gives all gay queens a bad name. He is bothered by all of us in the world who take up his space and breathe his oxygen. He gets on the bus every morning and sits as close to the front as possible, usually the second seat. Then he proceeds to make himself at home. First he puts his seat all the way back. Then he gets his pillow out. Then he takes his coat off and uses it like a blanket. One day I took the seat directly behind him and after he lowered his seat as far into my lap as it would reach I turned the light on overhead because I was gonna read. He huffed and puffed and put his seat back up and got up and stomped to the back of the bus to a darker seat. Yesterday a woman who got on the bus at the second stop of the day had to ask him 3 times to move over so that she could sit down, the bus was full and he was taking up TWO seats. Evidently my need for a stool while waiting for the bus is just too much for him because he sighs and shakes his head every time I open it up and sit down. I think everyone else sighs because they secretly want a stool of their own, but this guy is irritated with me.

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting there on my stool tweeting my peeps and watching for my bus when a very hairy guy with no shirt on, walked past me and yelled "Ever heard of the Texas Rangers? They Knew!" He was wearing shorts and black boots and that was it, no back pack, no hat, no shopping cart. Just a shimmering cloud of body hair stalking down the street.

Earlier this week a lady walked by who had a braid down her back that reached all the way to her knees!!!! As someone who used to have hair long enough to sit on, I can tell you that I would NOT want hair almost long enough to STEP on!!

The afternoon stop is on the same streetcorner as a Starbucks. (surprise) Last Friday a lovely young lady wearing the prettiest black dress with pleats and bows and a ruffled hem rode up on her bike. She daintily stepped off of the bike, chained it to a pole, unhooked her saddlebag, went into Starbucks, came back out with coffee in hand, unlocked her bike, rehooked her saddlebag and rode off with her coffee in one hand and her handlebars in the other. It was very impressive. I took a picture of her because she was just so lovely, but I don't know how to pull the picture off of my phone and put it here.

I know I'm old because...

2009-05-20T10:06:00.004-04:00

I have no shame in going to bed at 9:30pm.
I have to use lamaze breathing to reach my legs for shaving in the shower.
I drive a car based on whether I'll be able to get in and out of it, not how sexy I'll look while I'm in it.
I have to keep snacks at hand at all times or risk passing out due to low blood sugar.
Spicy food gives me heartburn.
I need to carry a stool to the bus stop because standing for ten minutes kills my back.
Raking the back yard for 20 minutes has caused me 10 days of shoulder pain.
All standing up and sitting down causes groaning noises.
Snoring. That's all I have to say about that.
Yesterday I discovered that I need to find a Ladies Room before I find a Dressing Room, as it appears that removing garments is the signal to my bladder that relief is in sight! I found two cute tops at Ross yesterday that didn't scream MATRONLY, although I almost peed myself in the process.
Nothing has given me more pleasure recently than sifting dry ingredients and adding them to the wet ingredients being stirred by my stand mixer.
Celebrities like Meg Ryan who are older than me in years, now look younger than me onscreen!
I actually know how to buy cantelope.

2009 Post Hunt

2009-05-18T07:16:00.004-04:00

Oh Lord this was fun. Frustrating, mind boggling, sunburning, head scratching fun. Go here to see what all the fuss was about. Sheldon and I went for our second year. We invited his friends T and S because we knew from last year that more brains were needed. We got four of the five puzzles without too much head scratching but the fifth one had us completely flumoxed. We had been lulled by the comparative ease in solving the the other four, even though Sheldon had been convinced they were too easy and therefore must be wrong. Between the fifth puzzle and the endgame we went to the ESPN Zone for beer, cause that always increases ones brain power right? As we headed back to the main stage we could hear Dave Barry singing "Old McDonald" so we got the EIEIO clue but we had no idea what that meant. Then we saw people streaming down the street past us, so we followed them. We were completely off-base. We weren't even playing the same game as the winners by that point and worse yet, we wasted so much time wandering from possibility to possibility that we were not even back at the main stage when they announced the winners (who won it in less than 15 minutes) and explained the whole game. Luckily we found a friendly player who told us all that we had missed. Although we had absolutely NO CHANCE at the $2,000 we did have fun, got some exercise and fresh air, spent time with friends, and we did much better than last year for speed at figuring out the four puzzles we did solve. We can't wait for next year and may even make the trip to Miami for the Tropic Hunt in October.

I heart Narciso.

2009-05-14T10:55:00.007-04:00

I just watched the 2008 version of The Women and that is time that will never be returned to me. The movie had a stellar cast and I was really looking forward to a little "girl" time. But alas, that was not to be. The movie didn't contain any girls or any women, it only contained caricatures of people that screenwriters think are female. Well, to be fair it was originally written in the '30s, but still!

There was a saving grace however. Narciso Rodriguez. Never heard of him? Neither had I, or at least that's what I thought. Turns out I have liked his style for a while! He designed this gorgeous dress for Carolyn Bessett Kennedy which I love. And he designed this wonderful dress that Michelle Obama rocked on election night.

The Meg Ryan character in the movie is a fashion designer who finally comes out from the shadows of her husband and father and puts on her own show. Every dress that came down the aisle looked like something I would wear, so I had to look up the designer. Narciso. Check him out. I now have a favorite designer.

Common Threads

2009-05-14T09:40:00.002-04:00

Art and I went to see a very cool exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum last week. The artist's name is Jean Shin and I really like her style. She takes cast-offs, other peoples trash, and makes it into something completely different and new and fresh. As we entered each room of the exhibit we would look at the display and think "Okay, that's interesting." and then we'd read the description of said piece on the wall and be like "COOL, that is SO cool!" We were cracking up after a while, cause we knew the description would have a wow factor. I must have said "This is my favorite." at least 3 times.

This is the first thing that caught my eye, it is called Fringe. In the description it said that the first installation had this colorful collection of ties outdoors by a bustop and that passengers waiting for buses would actually "borrow" ties.

This one titled Penumbra is a video of the colorful fabric she made from old, broken umbrellas. It was quite mesmerizing to watching the fabric blowing in the wind, I really wish I could have seen this in person because they only showed one little piece of it in the video and I really wanted to see the whole thing, to get a feeling for the scope of it.

This display shows what a small world we live in, even in a country as large as ours. It is called Unraveling and is made up of sweaters donated to her from Korean Americans all over the country. They are unraveled and connected to each other based on relationships that their former owners have.

Then there is this one. I don't think I can even explain it. Just go look. It was very cool, definitely one of my favorites!

There was more, but I invite you to check out the rest of her website or come to the museum yourself. The exhibit will be there until July 26th, 2009. Let me know if you are coming cause my office is only a few blocks away.

ESP if you don't get it, you don't get it.

2009-05-13T07:28:00.002-04:00

I found a tick at the crease of my knee this morning in the shower. Do I even need to tell you how grossed out I was? The weird part was that yesterday when I was walking on my lunch break in DC, I brushed under a tree in an effort to get out of someone's way and I thought at the time "I bet that tick is so happy that I happened by." I even brushed my hand through my hair to knock the imaginary tick away...and I must have knocked him down but not off.

Sheldon thinks that all psychic phenomina is total bunk, but I have had to much happen in my life to discount the reality of ESP. I have "seen" the future and the past in my life, but only in tiny glimpses. I sometimes wish I had stronger powers, but my friend Wren who has the ability to read peoples thoughts, sometimes wishes she didn't, so I will stick to the level I have.

Twice in my life I have had an overwhelming feeling of dread and of knowing that something bad was going to happen. The first time I was almost hit by a train, the second time my sister-in-law was killed in a horrible car crash. After the first incident I began paying more attention to my inner voice, but it wasn't until the second incident that I trusted the voice without question. The X believed in my abilities after that as well. All I had to say was that I had a bad feeling about a trip or a road and we would turn around and go home or take a different route.

I'll have to tell you the story of the train someday, it was a good one!

As promised...

2009-05-12T07:27:00.002-04:00

Here is my boy with his new/old hair. I like it SO MUCH BETTER this way.

Does he look more like a college freshman than a high school freshman, or is that just me?

My Weekend

2009-05-11T07:09:00.005-04:00

When I got home Friday Sheldon was already mowing the backyard which was literally knee high. Needless to say it was slow going. I followed behind him for a while with the rake, but I was worn out way before he was ready to stop. I went in the house and got him some lemonade and he took a short break, but went right back at it. The next time I looked outside he had finished the whole thing. I am amazed at his stamina. Not that our yard is that big or anything, but I would have had to do the job in stages and he just plowed through until he was finished.

Saturday we went to our local nursery and bought a clematis for the mailbox, 4 gorgeous rose bushes and 12 pots of phlox, and ordered 3 trees to be delivered later in the week. We went home and planted the phlox by the front door and the clematis right away. Again, Sheldon did most of the work. He dug the holes and I just watered and patted down the dirt around the new plants. Neither of us has ever had a partner to work in the yard with before and I think we work together well. I kept expecting him to fuss at me for being such a wimp, but he was pleased to have any help so there was no complaining.

I had an absolutely lovely Mother's Day. Miles called from his dad's and asked if he could come hang out with me for the afternoon. I was quite tickled as he usually prefers hanging out with his friends. I was talking to Cricket on the phone when I pulled up in front of his house, and we he came out the door all I could say was "My baby, my baby!" Cricket didn't know what was going on and kept saying "What? WHAT?" in my ear. I got out of the car and ran over to give him a hug and burst into tears. He looked beyond beautiful with his hair short. He was laughing and embarrassed but I don't think he minded one little bit. I forgot to take any pictures, but he promised to send me one to post here.

I invited Mama over to see the new house and because I wanted to make Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings for her for Mother's Day. She was very pleased with her list, but she wanted me to note for all y'all that she is aware that she snores because she will awake to find the cats staring at her. She said that she still has some of that Texas map fabric, but that she HAS thrown away all the magazines.

Cricket and her friend who is not named Christy stopped by as well. Sheldon made delicious ham and havarti sandwiches for everyone and then we dug into the dessert table. We had the aforementioned Apple Dumplings AND Grandma Iny's "Spice" Cake AND a chocolate cheesecake that Sheldon made. We were all about the desserts, although I'm proud to say that I weighed 2 pounds LESS this morning than I did Friday morning! Must have been all the raking and climbing stairs while carting laundry that I was doing all weekend.

I hope all of you had as much fun and as much good food as I did this weekend. It was without doubt my best Mother's Day ever!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T17:11:00.006-04:00

A few weeks ago I was talking to my mama on the phone and she asked what I was doing. I explained that I was working on a list of 100 things about myself as is tradition for your 100th blog post. "Goodness!" Mama said, "I don't think there ARE 100 things about me!" I told her that I was sure that there were way more than 100 things about her. After we hung up I decided to write this list for her. My brother and sister contributed. So Mama, in honor of Mother's Day, here are 100 Random things about YOU!

She has the most beautiful blue eyes.
She reads every book she gets her hands on.
She volunteers at the town library.
She snores like a freight train but denies it.
She is the oldest of three children.
She gets terrible sunburns.
She is left handed.
She is on her third set of replacement knees and has endured at least 20 surgeries in the past five years.
She was an elementary school teacher for 30 years.
She had three children in three different decades.
She made my wedding dress and all the bridesmaids dresses for my wedding, I worried that she would be hemming my dress while I walked down the aisle, but she finished it before the music started.
She loves cats beyond all reason.
She suffered a spontaneous systemic staph infection two years after her first double knee replacement. She was the first patient in medical history to have this happen and is a case study.
She hates to ask for help but she will give you the shirt off of her back.
She lives in a beautiful, white, Queen Anne Victorian house that was built in 1907. She bought it because of the view.
She has the most beautiful, wavy, white hair.
She looks much younger than her age.
She loves liver and onions and always orders it if she sees it on a menu.
Mounds is her favorite candy bar.
She used to listen to Spitzer's House Party which was a radio show on WSIG back in the 70's that featured polka music, on Saturday morning when she cleaned house.
She is a great travel companion because she will go where ever you want to go, eat whatever you want to eat, see whatever you want to see and never complains.
She is on her church council.
She has a fabulous, commanding, school teacher voice, that can bring a room to silence in a split second.
She had to learn the alphabet backwards to teach slow learners back when DISTAR was the approved method.
Blue is her favorite color.
She used to sew me the cutest clothes when I was a kid.
She sewed me the cutest maternity clothes when I was pregnant with Miles.
Her younger brother and all his children are dentists.
She is a fabulous gift-wrapper.
Her father was a banker and a farmer.
Her mother was a teacher.
Her mother lived to be 96 and her aunt is still alive at 101.
Her cousin Frank Buckles is 105 or 106 and is one of the only World War I veterans left, he is still sharp, you see him on the news now and then.
When I was a kid she would smoke when she was stressed and she always exhaled through her nose which I thought was so exotic. (Cricket never knew this until a few years ago when I mentioned it in passing and she was SO shocked!)
She used to love Jean Nate, do they even make that stuff anymore?
She traveled cross country when she was a child with her parents and siblings, she saw the great redwoods. I hope I get to do that someday.
She married my dad when she was 20 and had me when she was 21.
She met my dad when she lived in the same dorm as his sister at Shenandoah College in 1963.
When she taught school she kept hair bands and barretts in her drawer for the little girls whose parents sent them to school without brushing their hair. (These days teachers are not allowed to touch their students, much less style their hair.)
Her birthday is November 27th which is often Thanksgiving weekend.
She is a Red Hat and has tons of fun with her Red Hat friends.
She taught me to always check the oven before turning it on because her mother stored pots and pans in the oven and had trained her to check for them.
She taught me to knit when I was five, but I have never known her to knit or crochet.
She has boundless curiosity which she inherited from her mother and passed down to me.
She always takes in stray cats, dogs and people. When I see a homeless woman on the streets of DC with young children I always want to pack them in my car and take them home to Mama.
She was raised Episcipalian but now she's a Lutheran.
She and my dad eloped and didn't tell anyone until 6 months later when they got pregnant with me.
She calls the mid-day meal lunch and the evening meal supper, but you out to dinner.
She pronounces it to-mah-to and my dad always used to give her a hard time about it, so the rest of us say to-may-to.
She drinks hot tea in the morning and iced tea the rest of the day, I'm not sure I have ever seen her drink anything else. Cricket says that she drinks coffee now because Cricket makes a pot every morning before work and Mama hates to see anything go to waste.
I take that back, I have seen her drink something else, when she was grouchy a few days out of the month, my dad used to make her a gin and tonic and she would cheer right up.
She thinks babies should always have a hat on, my sister and I have been brainwashed to believe the same thing as adults, although we both thought she was crazy when we were younger.
She is a member of a weightloss group called TOPS, but every Tuesday after their weigh-in they eat at the all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in town, so I don't know how serious they are about losing weight.
She only has one grandchild, so far.
Her grandma name is Grandy.
She falls asleep watching tv, but she and Cricket have TiVo so Cricket has to check to see if she should delete a show they have finished watching.
She really loves pedicures.
She can't get rid of old magazines, I think she still has every Family Circle and Woman's Day since 1972.
She moved into her house in 1977, and it'll take more than an act of congress to remove her from it.
She has a great laugh and it is fun to give her the giggles.
She introduced us to a fabulous breakfast food called Egg In A Frame a long time ago when we were very small, and it remains a family favorite into another generation.
She likes driving a mini-van, though all her kids are grown. She just finds them easier to get in and out of.
She once made seat covers with pillows to match for our '67 Chevy Bel Air out of a cloth print of a Texas road map.
She can drive a stick-shift, and likely learned to do that on a tractor.
13 years into retirement from teaching, and she still can't stand gum-chewing.
The wedding ring she wore for all the 20 plus years she was married had moons and stars on it. My dad bought it for ten bucks in a bar. I love it.
It took 20 years and 4 colleges to get her degree but she never gave up!
She loves plants and flowers and has a gardener to plant what she wants where she wants. She usually manages to kill houseplants though.
She wore black cat's eye glasses all through the '70s.
She had very easy deliveries with all three of her babies which was thankfully passed on to me.
When her dark brown hair started to turn white back in her 30's she had a white streak near the front that people often thought was done on purpose. I have the same white streak now, but mine is all across the front.
She has had her children under roof for the last 44 years, except for the 4 years Cricket was away at college.
She went for 9 months last year with no knees in her body.
She has no tattoos and I'm not even sure she has ever seen one up close.
She's never been one to take pictures and certainly never be in them, when she does take pictures she never gets them developed.
She didn't get her ears pierced until after I did when I was a teenager. She wanted to borrow all my "cute" earrings.
She doesn't care for swimming but she does walk laps in the pool when her knees allow it.
She is ridiculously frugal about her own needs but very generous with others.
She prefers to pay with cash and especially with correct change.
When she had no knees she invented a new way to get in and out of bed by herself and we had to demonstrate it to all the docs and nurses cause no one believed she could do it until they saw it for themselves.
She wears those big "old lady" sunglasses that fit over your regular glasses and wrap around your face.
She once wore said sunglasses while driving in a tunnel and kept complaining about how dark it was. Cricket and I almost died laughing when we realized what was causing the problem.
When she was able to sit in a chair, she would always let me take a nap in her hospital bed when I'd go visit.
She has fantastic handwriting.
She doesn't like to drive at night, or in the rain.
She loves to play Scrabble.
She buys eggs every single time she gets groceries.
She reads her local newspaper all the way through, every day, including the classified and ads. She even reads circulars for stores that are not nearby.
She loves red shoes and red wallets.
She wears a gorgeous diamond and gold man's ring on her middle finger, that she inherited from her father. It is believed to be a Civil War relic. When she was in the hospital I asked to wear it as a remembrance and because I didn't want it to get lost. Every time I spoke to her on the phone she would ask after the ring.
When she was a child she had a pony named Twinkle.
She gives the best hugs.
She'd rather sit on her own front porch looking at the view than any beach or famous vista you can name. (Preferably with tea, the newspaper and a cat close at hand.)
After she retired she got her Nursing Assistant Certification and began caring for the elderly.
She calls all three of her children Sarah/CAB/Cricket cause she can never remember which name she wants.
She is almost always early.
She adores Golden Seal Magazine.
She dreams of traveling to Italy one day.
She is terrible at remembering names, especially sound-alike names. All through middle school she called half of Cricket's friends Christy. Cricket had no friends named Christy, she had a Kristen and a Kristina, but no Christy. Cricket has NEVER had a friend named Christy.
She thinks of others first to such an extreme that once she was in a terrible three car pileup on the interstate and after she was CUT OUT of her van and put into an ambulance she composed herself enough to call her elderly mother and tell her she'd gotten home safely because she knew that Grandma Urath would be waiting by the phone and watching the time. She later called Cricket who was away at college, she made small talk and asked what Cricket was doing the next day and if she would drive home (2.5 hours) to drive her to her TOPS meeting because people were counting on her as the record keeper and she didn't want to let them down. Cricket had to pry the details of the accident out of her one by one. She tried to downplay it so much she nearly described it as a fender bender. Actually that story is basically Mama in a nutshell.

Baby Got Back

2009-05-08T09:29:00.004-04:00

There's a rumor that my baby is back. My son Miles is a teenager. Need I even say more? When he was little he had light blond hair and I always kept it buzzed cause it was just easier to take care of. A few years ago he decided to grow his hair long. Last year he decided to dye it black. He has had long black hair for a while now. I hate it but I let him do it because hair grows back and I am saving all my NO's for tattoos and piercings. Last night my ex-husband called to tell me that my baby was back. I had no idea what he was talking about and I was a little startled at his words and the emotion in his voice. He said that Miles had asked for a haircut, he wanted it all cut off. The X said "Why don't we wait til Sunday?" Miles said "No, let's do it now before I can change my mind." They went to the Haircuttery and he got it all buzzed off. His roots were light brown. The X says that he looks just like he did back in the day. He said that the women at the shop were all making a fuss over how handsome he is and how he shouldn't have been hiding his face behind all that hair. The X was almost tearful telling me all this. I can't wait to see my baby! I have to admit, I do like this picture of him though.

Bus Stop

2009-05-08T07:44:00.003-04:00

I have entered a brave new world by moving to the boonies. I am now taking a transit bus from the boonies to the big city. I have taken public transportation for years, but I used to drive 8 miles to the subway station (we call it Metro here in these parts), park my car and then take the train to my office downtown. The train would be packed with people, some of whom didn't smell so good. Sometimes the trains broke down and we'd have to get out and cram ourselves onto the platform and wait for the next train. Sometimes in the evening I would have to stand the whole way home, which killed my back. The morning trains were usually quiet cause everyone was half asleep, but the evening trains could get pretty rowdy. There was constant starting and stopping and door chimes. Now I drive 3 miles to a Park and Ride lot and get on a cushy motor coach that whisks me downtown in silence and comfort. I am at the second stop of 3 that the bus makes so i always get a seat. We each have our own reading light but most people just sleep so the bus is dark and quiet in the morning. The drivers are all professional and courteous. So far everyone has smelled just fine.

The most interesting part of this whole new world is the morning bus stop. There is a definite code of conduct that you can only learn by watching the others around you. The weirdest thing that I still haven't gotten used to is that we do not line up single file facing the person in front of you. The first person stands facing the street and the next person stands to the left about a foot away also facing the street. As each person arrives they stop and turn and face the street. Some put their bags down, some hold on to them. Some grip travel coffee mugs like their very life depends on it. When the line reaches the end of the building the next person stands behind the last person and the line continues to the right. The line snakes around this way, usually three rows deep by the time the bus arrives. When the bus pulls up the front line turns to the right and files onto the bus but the rest of the line stays in place and waits for the end of the line to get in front of them, at which point they just walk forward. It is the weirdest thing I have ever witnessed. On top of all that we are facing a row of abandoned buildings and there is a spotlight shining on us. I always feel like I'm in one of those prison movies and I'm waiting for the firing squad to arrive and pick us off one by one.

I always sit as close to the front as I can and on the right side of the bus because there is a partition behind the driver and you can't see out through the windshield. The afternoon stop is much more typical although no one can seem to decide which way the line should go, so some days it goes one way down the street and other days it goes the other way. I am usually the first one there, so I let the rest of them fight it out.

I have fallen asleep every day on this bus. Morning and afternoon. It is lovely to get another hour or so of sleep. This raises two concerns though. One is that I am terrified that I will sleep through my stop, but so far I always wake when the bus gets off the highway and begins stopping at stoplights. Secondly it has been reported by Sheldon and Miles that I snore. I have never snored before in my life. My ex-husband who slept in the same bed with me for 16 years assures me that I never snored when we were together, so I suppose this is a new and lovely by-product of old age. So every day I worry that I am snoring while passed out on the bus. So far no one has pinched me or poked me, but I'm curious to see if people stop sitting by me. I'll keep you posted.

John Lennon is Alive!

2009-05-08T07:35:00.004-04:00

Okay, not really. But he communicated with me this morning. At least I think it was him. For all I know it was Napoleon or my Nannie. Years and years ago I read an interview with Julian Lennon where he described his relationship with his father. He and his father made a pact that whichever of them died first would do everything in their power to communicate from the other side. The plan they came up with was to send a feather floating down in front of the one left on Earth to let them know that they were okay. This morning while waiting for my 5:37am bus a feather came floating down from the ceiling of the bus shelter and landed about a foot in front of me. I was so relieved to know that John Lennon was safe and happy in Heaven. Then my distaste for critters kicked in and all I could think of was that what this really meant was that there were birds nesting in the rafters of the shelter and said birds might poop on me. I didn't know which way to move to avoid the impending poop bombs, so I just stood very still and hoped that the other people around me looked like better targets to the birds above.

April Resolutions - Epic Fail

2009-05-07T09:57:00.005-04:00

Okay this month was an Epic Fail. But hey, I was moving! I have also decided to change up a little on the choices, cause hey, they are my resolutions and I can do whatever I want!

April To Do List
1. Meet someone new - Lots of new neighbors!
2. museum - fail, although I did try to make a plan with Matt.
3. paint - Sheldon painted the kids rooms in the new house, does that count?
4. spend time with an old friend - fail
5. new recipe - oh a big YES for this one...Pioneer Woman's Apple Dumplings!!! YUM!!!
6. dancing - fail, sad, this is probably the one that I want MOST to actually do!
7. sushi - took Miles one night during the move, but he wasn't speaking to me at the time so it wasn't very enjoyable.
8. sell old stuff - fail, but I am determined that MAY is the month for this one!
9. lose 5 pounds - fail, again!
10. quality family time - played a game of Sorry! with Trixiebelle and Sheldon the other night.

For May this is the list:

go to a museum
spend time with an old friend
try a new recipe
spend some quality family time
make Sheldon watch one chick flick
visit my Mama
exercise
go letterboxing
sell something I don't need anymore
crochet or cross stitch something

Randomness on a rainy Thursday

2009-05-07T07:17:00.003-04:00

When I got home yesterday Sheldon immediately wanted to know if I had blogged about the dishes. I knew he wouldn't care, but I was surprised that he wanted to know. Turns out that he had discussed it with the female teachers in the work room and for the most part they were in agreement with me. I think we almost understand each other now and are much more willing to compromise. We ate out last night, so no dishes to test my theory yet.
We ate at Hooters. Hooters Lots a Tots. Need I say more?
We are having our two story foyer, family room and powder room painted. I have a migraine from the paint fumes. My head hurts and I am nauseous, but the colors are gorgeous! The foyer and family are a warm golden brown that I adore. The powder room is a blue that was supposed to resemble the sky to coordinate with the gorgeous butterflies we got as decoration for in there, but it seems a tad bright at the moment. It may have to change.
I make Sheldon watch Steel Magnolias last night. Somehow he has managed to avoid all the classic chick flicks. I intend to rectify this situation. His response to SM? "That was cute." CUTE! He called the best southern movie since Gone with the Wind CUTE!
Have I told y'all how much I love sheets I bought at Costco a few weeks ago? I forget the thread count 400, 500, 600, but they are satiny soft with damask stripes. They came in several colors but I chose the chocolate brown.
Seamus the poodle made himself invisible the other night. We put him in his kennel at night because Sheldon can't stand him walking over him in the night. I usually put him outside and then into the kennel at 9pm when I am headed up to bed. A few nights ago he was asleep on the couch with me watching baseball and when I got up to put the computer away and head for bed he didn't move so I forgot about him. When Sheldon came to bed a few hours later he must have stayed put because Sheldon didn't even know he was loose. The next morning when I went downstairs he sat up and looked at me all sleepy-eyed. He had stayed loose and quiet as a mouse all night long!
I have eaten one of Sheldon's cherry brownies while I have been writing this and my headache seems to be dissipating. If I have found the cure for migraines I will let you know!!!
I think that is enough randomness for one day, but I could be wrong...

Dishes, Dishes, Dishes!

2009-05-06T08:41:00.004-04:00

Oh the DRAMA. Who knew that dishes could cause such gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair???

Sheldon and I have hit a brick wall when it comes to dishes. While on most things we can communicate fairly well, when we discuss ways and means of daily dishes we might as well be speaking two entirely different languages. I am not writing this post to beat up on him, or to garner sympathy for myself, but this is a conversation we have had over and over in the past 10 days and this is what is on my mind.

Let me start off by saying that Sheldon and I are both in our mid 40's and were both married before for more than a decade. We each spent several years as single people before this new blending of households began. I say this because it is important to understand that we have done things our own way for many years. We each tend to think that the way we do things is the RIGHT way. Period.

Sheldon believes that dishwashers were invented so that we should never do dishes by hand again. He refuses to wash anything by hand and refuses to own anything that is too delicate to be put in the dishwasher. He grew up with a dishwasher in his house and never even a saw a dish draining rack on a kitchen counter until he was in college. He maintains that no one under the age of 65 ever washes by hand, except me. I think he just called me old.

While I do enjoy the benefits of a dishwasher I do not believe that everything should be put in there and I do own things that are not dishwasher safe, like my collection of hand carved wooden spoons. I do not mind washing my wooden spoons by hand. I also have never put my metal pots in the dishwasher and seldom wash my glass baking pans in the dishwasher. This is not so much because they will be ruined in the dishwasher as it is that they take up too much room. I'd rather wash one pot and leave room for 4 more plates and bowls. Plus the dishwasher does take the finish off the pots and they don't look pretty anymore.

So, when I am done with a big dinner I put all the dishes in the dishwasher and I hand wash all the pots and pans and any dishes that didn't fit. I leave all those items on the counter to air dry. I sit in front of the tv, or the computer and enjoy my leisure. The next time I wander into the kitchen to cook or eat or visit with whomever is in there, I put away the clean dry dishes. The sick is empty and clean. The kitchen is clean.

When Sheldon is done with a big dinner he loads as much as he can into the dishwasher and starts it. He leaves the rest in the sink to await the next dishwasher load. He can't stand the clutter of clean dishes on the counter, but he doesn't mind the dirty stuff in the sink because he thinks of that as a holding pattern, not clutter.

Do you see the disconnect? Can I just tell you that we have spent no fewer than 3 hours of our lives discussing this issue in the past 10 days? There has even been yelling and crying. I can't tell if the children are worried or delighted when they hear the ruckus. We have tried to think of a system that pleases both of us, but so far nothing is working. We have attempted to NOT do the thing that drives the other person crazy, but so far that is not working either because although I don't remember leaving stuff on the counter for well over a week, he assures me that he has had to put away clean dishes on at least four occasions.

I'm sure this will blow over with time. Everything is an adjustment. I just hate the daily tension over something so minuscule. I mean Yankees vs Redsox, that is a fight I can see happening, but dishes?

I don't even know who his favorite team was

2009-05-02T21:16:00.005-04:00

I am sitting here watching baseball with Sheldon and Trixiebelle. The two teenagers had other activities this lovely May evening. I can't watch baseball on tv without thinking of my Grandaddy B. When I was a kid I lived with my paternal grandparents every summer. My mom was a teacher and she had to take college courses every summer, so my brother and I stayed with my grandparents all summer long. It was a fabulous childhood as my grandparents lived in sleepy Roanoke, Va and had a house at Smith Mountain Lake which is about an hour away from there. Back in those days SML was VERY sleepy, but not so much these days.

My family lived just outside a tiny town in the northern Shenandoah Valley. We had no sidewalks or even paved streets in our neighborhood, so it was extra special for us living in Roanoke because we were surrounded by the best parts of life in the suburbs. We had lots of friends in the neighborhood, paved streets for riding bikes, lots of big back yards with tons of hide and seek choices. During the week we would go down to the lake which meant lazy days of swimming til we were ready to drop and then eating fresh fish that Grandaddy caught for our dinner. My Grandma B. was an excellent cook and grew most of our veggies in her acre garden.

My grandfather loved baseball and always had the game on in the evenings. I would play outside with my friends in the neighborhood until darkness fell and we were all forced inside. My grandparents house was air conditioned which was a novelty for me as the homes I grew up in never had AC. I remember shock of coming inside the cool, quiet house after being outside playing for hours in the heat and humidity with the crickets and cicadas and birds and children making a ruckus outdoors. My grandfather would be in his favorite chair working on a cross word puzzle and watching the game. He didn't say much, and I don't remember him reacting to the game at all. I think it was just background noise for his puzzle. I'm sure he was paying attention, but I never heard him react to things like the guys I have watched games with as an adult.

Make a U-Turn You Idiot!

2009-05-01T08:53:00.003-04:00

While Sheldon and I enjoyed dinner on date night last night we got into a conversation about GPS voices. I drove his car to pick his daughter up the other night cause he was too sick to get off the couch. She was at Sylvan Learning Center being tutored in math. I had been there with him before but I didn't know how to find it on my own. He reminded me that he had GPS in the car before he passed out again. His son and I went online and found the address of the place and then I went out to the car and programmed it in. This all seems faintly ridiculous as I have lived and worked in this metro area for the last 25 years, but I'm just not that familiar with this part of the county. I got on the road with the GPS guiding me out of the neighborhood turn by turn. I actually turned the volume up and turned the radio off so that I wouldn't miss any instructions. I was driving on route 7 eastbound for a while (10 minutes, tops) and the woman hadn't said anything. I desperately wanted her to say, "You are doing fine, keep going straight." Or something equally comforting, but she remained silent. When she finally started giving me instructions again, I was so relieved. When I found my destination, she informed me that I was there and then she turned herself off. Again I was disappointed. I needed some love. I wanted her to say, "Hey, Good Job! You found it! You're not the idiot you thought you were!"

Could I be anymore needy?

I was telling Sheldon this and he laughed and said that he would want the opposite. He would prefer that the voice be somebody mean like Stewie from "Family Guy" who would tell him that he was an idiot. "You missed the turn you Douchbag! Make a U-Turn you Idiot! How many times do I have to tell you to get in the right lane?!"

We decided that someone should invent a programmable GPS where you could change the voice to say whatever you wanted in different celebrity voices. I got online at work this morning and found...that someone already has...check this out. Course they don't have Stuart Smalley or Oprah saying "Good Job, I knew you could do it!" But maybe they'll make one just for me.

Well this was a first...

2009-04-28T10:54:00.003-04:00

I lost my wallet this weekend. I am 44 years old and I have never lost my wallet before. Never. Luckily it was only my wallet and there wasn't really anything of value in it other than the $30 cash. I had a couple debit/credit cards and my drivers license and 14,000 membership cards to every freaking store in the tri-state area. I was kind of tired of carrying all of those cards around anyway, so now I have eased myself of that extra weight.

The last time I know I had my wallet was Saturday night when we had been moving large pieces of furniture and driving all day. Sheldon was doing all the driving and all the heavy lifting so don't feel too bad for me, but I was exhausted. We got the fridge and the dishwasher out of my condo and then realized that we didn't have anything to use to tie them down. There is a Lowe's right across the road from the neighborhood so we walked over there to buy some straps. I know I took my wallet because I expected to pay for the straps. On the way back down the hill to the truck a thunderstorm was brewing to the west and we were getting splattered with occasional raindrops so we were walking double-time. I know that when we were almost to the truck I handed Sheldon the bag of straps. I know that I opened the truck door but didn't get in. I think I put my wallet down at that point. I know I helped him tie down the fridge.

After that we got in the truck and drove back to the new house. We (he) unloaded the two appliances into the garage and I went inside to let the dog out. I carried my totebag and all the trash and such out of the truck and into the house. We stood talking in the kitchen for a moment and decided that he would drive the truck back to the uHaul place and get my car and I would go to bed. Cause you know, I was so tired.

I didn't realize that my wallet was missing until late Sunday. I kept thinking it was somewhere else in the house, or out in my car. It took a while for my brain to process the fact that the last time I had seen it I was not in my car, but in the rental truck. At 9pm Sunday I was searching every nook and cranny of my purse, my tote bag and my car. No wallet. Monday morning I called the uHaul place as soon as they opened. They had not seen my wallet and the truck was out on another rental but was due back within 30 minutes. I called back 30 minutes later. Not back. I called back every 30 minutes until noon. Still not back. The last call I wailed to the clerk "They are NEVER coming back because they have my credit cards and they are Living Large!" He laughed. I gave up calling until after 3pm. I get off work at 3pm and was waiting on the corner for my bus when I realized that I hadn't called in a few hours so I proceeded to dial and redial the number but Couldn't Get Through! Now I was picturing all the guys from the uHaul store out partying with the rental customers and my mastercard. Finally about 6pm the call went through and the bad news. The renters hadn't found it and the guys had gone over the truck with a fine toothed comb and it was not in the truck.

So...I started calling credit card companies and I went on the DMV website to see what the hours were to go stand in line tonight. Today I walked down to Filene's Basement on my lunch break and bought myself a new bright green wallet. (My old one was brown which obviously equals invisible.) While I was there I decided to treat myself to a new purse as well. I would love to show you a picture of it but I can't find one on the net. If I can upload one I will later today. It is adorable. The brand is Tignanello which I have never heard of before...but then I usually buy my purses at KMart so what do I know?

I really think that Sheldon is going to regret introducing me to this whole world of girlie things like shopping. :)

The only way I like crab

2009-04-26T16:10:00.004-04:00

Crab Dip

Sheldon needed an appetizer for a work function so I made him a crock pot full of this. This is actually the only way I'll eat crab, and I totally love it!

2 8oz pks of cream cheese
2 cups (16oz) sour cream
4-5 (6.5oz) cans of crab meat
chopped onion to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
tabasco to taste
1/2 to 1 cup of cheddar cheese

Throw all the ingredients except the cheddar into a crock pot and set on high til everything melts together stir and turn to low for 3-4 hours before your party, then when the party starts throw the cheddar on top, stir it in and dig in. You can leave it in the crock pot or serve in small bowls for dipping. I like the triangular Triscuits dipped in it! Sheldon didn't even taste it but the crock pot was empty, so I'm thinking everyone else enjoyed it.

Lightweight

2009-04-24T14:36:00.003-04:00

Yes, it is true, I am a lightweight.

Last night Sheldon and I went out to his favorite restaurant for date night. This restaurant just happens to be less than two miles from our new house. It is called The Dock and they have Fabulous food! He ordered a beer and I ordered a Maker's Mark Manhattan, because although I don't drink much, I do insist on the best. Our appetizer was shrimp wrapped in bacon which were sitting on rounds of fresh mozzarella and tomato slices. He got roasted pork chops over garlic mashed potatoes and I got filet tips over pasta with asparagus and cream sauce. For dessert we split the "sampler" which included small servings of chocolate mousse cake, key lime pie and apple pie a la mode. Let me just tell you that every bite from start to finish was scrumptious and we ate every single bite of everything.

Now as I stated I am a lightweight. I actually managed to finish my drink which for me is rare, but boy I could feel it. Sheldon was tickled because I was goofy. I was red in the face as though I had a sudden sunburn, my southern accent was ratcheted up about 6 notches, and I just thought it was the most beautiful night of my life. The funny part was I could hear how ridiculous I sounded but I couldn't stop it.

Can you imagine how goofy I'd be if I actually did drink two or three? Lord have mercy!

Mind Control is just one of my Super Powers

2009-04-22T07:47:00.006-04:00

Did I ever tell you about the time that Miles thought I had mind control over Target workers?

One day when Miles was about six years old we were in the car headed to our new Target. I can't remember why we got on the topic but I referred to Elvis as "The King". Miles dismissed my comment by saying that I didn't even like Elvis so why would I call him the king? I laughed and said that I had no control over it, that Elvis was known around the world as the King. Miles was sure that I was teasing him. He reminded me that we didn't have a King in the US, we have a President. I agreed and said he was the King of Rock and Roll.

All the way to the store I tried to convince him that I wasn't lying or teasing, but telling the absolute truth. We parked the car and got out and I offered to walk up to anyone in the parking lot and ask them "Who is the King?" and they would say Elvis. He hates it when I embarrass him like that so I knew he would back down on this argument if I made that offer. He didn't back down though, he was completely convinced that I was making fun of him or of Elvis, or both. As we walked into the store a young clerk was arranging the carts and I said "I bet we could ask that young lady right there!" The girl who was barely 18 looked over, all eager to help in her new job at the new store and said "Can I help you?" Miles was tugging on my arm now, begging me not to do it, but how could I not? I asked her "Who's the King?"

Considering that this was in the suburbs of Washington, DC and she was most likely one of those girls who couldn't decide which Hanson brother was the cutest, it was a pretty bold choice on my part. It could all have blown up in my face at that moment. She looked a little panicky as she was expecting a question like "Where are the towels?" and then very slowly she said "Elvis Presley?" Miles looked at her dumbstruck and then looked at me and said in a very hushed voice "How'd you do that?"