Guess where we went this weekend!

This is your leg.

This is your leg on sun.

Any questions?

When it rains, it hails

My husband had to work Sunday (GO NAVY!) but he called me that evening. He mentioned that the weather had called for a level 1 thunderstorm with hail and wondered if we had gotten any.

Me: oh yes, I got some.
Him: what do you mean? The house?
Me: no, me personally.
Him: What?
Me: Well, I've been stuck in the house because of the weather and lack of car, so when I noticed that it was overcast this afternoon, I decided to go to the park to bird-watch.
Him: Yeah. . .
Me: I thought it was moving the other direction, and when I got to the park, it was still sunny.
Him: Ok. . . .
Me: I had walked half way around the pond (a rather large pond) when it started to get really windy, began to thunder and lightening and started to rain. But it wasn't raining hard, so I figured it would moved pretty quickly through.
Him: Um hm. . . .
Me: Then it started raining really, really hard, and I was about 10 to 15 minutes away from the car, with no umbrella, so I took refuge in a group of trees and bushes. It helped with the wind and the rain.
Him: Ok. . .
Me: But it just kept raining and raining and I finally realized I couldn't possibly get any wetter, so I might as well head for the car. Besides, it started to slow down.
Him: Well, that's good!
Me: But it didn't. It got worse. It got really, really windy. I almost lost my balance more than once. And the wind was coming across the pond, driving that water into me and the rain was coming down sideways. It felt like I was being hit by thousands of needles.
Him: At least it wasn't hailing.
Me: I thought that too. And then it began hailing. (When I told this story to my mom, she broke in here with, "was your car ok?" My car is 10 years old, has 100,000 miles on it and I bought it with hail damage. Thanks for being concerned about me.) It was only pea-size, but I was still about 10 minutes from the car. Especially since I was trying to walk sideways so I didn't get hit in the face with hail. Hail hurts. It actually broke my skin in a couple of places. But I finally made it to the car and came home and took a hot shower.
Him: Didn't you think to check the weather channel before you left?

So I'm sure my family is wondering why I'm such an idiot. I hate hail.

Butterflies

I was just lying in bed, trying to sleep, but too excited to do so. I keep running through the list of things in my head. Is the house clean enough? What outfit should I wear? What shoes should I wear? What should I make for dinner tomorrow night? Did I forget anything? I have painted my toenails AND my fingernails (I haven't painted them in years). I will shave tomorrow morning and remember to pick up ice-cream at the store. I can't wait to see my husband. I want to show him my new afghan, my plants, how far I've read in my book, my new computer game, the wedding pictures. Like a little kid I want to show off the good things I've done and hear how wonderful and good they are. And they will be. He won't find fault with anything. He will praise everything I show him. The house could be a mess, but it would be clean enough for him. I could serve up a frozen meal, and that would be fine. I could show up in a potato sack, and he would still think I was beautiful. All he wants, all he needs, is for me to be there, waiting for him. He needs to see my excitement in my eyes as the smile spreads across my face when I see him. He needs me to run into his arms and laugh and cry and hold him and tell him how much I missed him, how much I love him, how I never want him to leave again. He needs me to constantly touch him all night, to make sure it really is him. He just needs me. And because of that, I want to give him all the rest. I want to be the most intelligent, patient, gentle, beautiful, talented, creative, wonderful, loving wife in the world. Because I think he is the most intelligent, patient, gentle, beautiful, talented, creative, wonderful, loving husband in world. Because he truly loves me, for me. Something I never thought possible. I can't wait for tomorrow.

Money is over-rated

My car failed the Virginia state inspection. My tint is getting old and bubbly and you can't see out of the back window. Or the passenger side window. Oh, and apparently I broke the front left CV axle boot too (I think just this week: it started making really weird noises). I took it to the Nissan dealership to fix all this crap and then mentioned that the car has 100,000 miles on it and I need it to last a couple more years. And I haven't taken it for a check-up (tune-up?) in, oh, about three or four years. Originally it was going to cost me $400. Now, now it's going to cost me $2,000. Well, if that's all. I have that laying around in change. Something about a timing belt leak and all my fluids need to be changed and a whole bunch of over stuff I glossed over for. But I guess it's still better than a monthly car payment. Thank God school starts soon, we need the money.

I think I might get one squash out of my container garden. That makes it the world's most expensive squash when you consider the containers, soil, mulch and water. It better taste good. My one lonely jalapeno plant is covered in jalapenos, which is very exciting, until I realized we don't really eat jalapenos. Four of my bell pepper plants look like they will produce as well. And then I realized, neither I nor my husband really like bell peppers. Hopefully they won't taste anything like the store bought ones, because really, who wants to grow anything that tastes like that. My veggies will be delicious. And, apparently, very expensive.

A day late

Camille, I hope you had a great first day at work! And remember, nothing is set in stone and if it doesn't work for you guys, there's something else out there.

Tiffany, I can't wait until you're on this side of the country.

And my husband comes home on Friday!!!!!

Scratch that itch

Yesterday I went to First Landing State Park. I had never been there before and I was hoping that it would increase the type and number of birds I have observed. I started in the Bald Cypress swamps. They are so surreal yet beautiful. It's almost like another planet. The Green Herons love them. They blend right into the scenery, so you have to look really hard to find them. I heard woodpeckers several times, but never saw any. I also heard several new songs, but too many trees kept me from seeing them. I startled several lizards, some of which startled me in turn. One of them had to have been at least 8 inches long. And I saw one climbing up a tree. That was pretty cool. But no new birds. I did, however, find frogs. Lots and lots of frogs. This made me feel better because the Botanical Garden does not have any frogs. I mean, I'm sure they have frogs, I've just never seen any. The swamp and all the frogs reminded me of the Muppet Movie, the greatest movie ever. I dare you to think of the movie without humming one of the songs or smiling about the Steve Martin scene. . . . Some day you'll find it. The rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers and me. . . . Sorry about that, where was I. Oh yes, not finding any new birds. My feet were starting to hurt, not bad, but enough that I wanted to sit down for a while. I also wanted to go on to find a new bird, but knew I would be even more disappointed if I went on and still couldn't find a new one. The bugs had discovered me as well, and apparently, I taste good. I have a line of huge bug bites on my neck. Anyway, I decided to leave and go back later, with my husband. Driving out of the park, an osprey flew over my car, gripping a rather large fish in its claws. HOW DAMN COOL!!! That made the day worth it.

Trying to make nothing interesting

I'm back home. On the plane ride back I sat next to a nice retired couple who were on their way to Russia. He was retired military, she was a retired teacher. We talked the entire trip. It made me realize that even though I'm not where I thought I would be, I'm where I should be.

Upon entering my home, I realized that one of my (five) smoke detectors had a low battery. I figured this out because it was chirping every three minutes. I called to put in a work order, but it was 4:30pm and they said they couldn't get it done that day (Thursday). I managed to remove it from the ceiling and hide it in one of the other rooms (it was outside my bedroom door). However, it is now the end of Tuesday and no one has come to fix it yet. I'm thinking I'm going to take it to the leasing office and tell them they can keep it until it's fixed.

Other than that, not much. I got groceries, cleaned (a little bit), watered my plants (they're all still alive), started a new afghan and started reading War and Peace. Tomorrow I'm going to visit a new state park (the state park isn't new, but it's new to me). My husband will be home in about 10 days. I can't wait!

My sister is a Mrs.

My sister got married last Saturday. It was perfect and beautiful. Everything went well. Here's a few pictures, because to be honest, the day was kind of a blur.

This is my brother, my sister and me. The wedding colors were black and hot pink (hence the tie). My brother usually has this thing growing on his face that looks like a goat chin (not a goatee, a goat). He shaved it for my sister. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of Elise with her new husband.

This is me with my parents. Doesn't my mom look beautiful. Just about everyone fought back tears at the wedding. Justin's dad was the best man and at one point we were both tearing up, but then he caught my eye and winked at me. After that both of us felt fine.
I got to spend time with the most handsome boy at the wedding. But he's a little shy.
There's the little Phoenix. He was so good and so cute. He handed out Hershey kisses to all the pretty girls in the room, and then he handed them out to everyone. He found out that my mom hadn't gotten a piece of cake yet (the cake was pink with black polka-dots), so he got her a piece. "Nana, you stay right there until I get back. I'll get you cake. Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back." He's so cute! He danced all night too! We also had a photo booth, like the ones in the mall. It was a hit but Phoenix really loved it. He was just walk right in, no matter who was in there, but he was too short to show up if he wasn't picked up, so people let him in. Then he gave them instructions. "Ok, there's going to be four pictures." It was a wonderful day and weekend. My sister and Justin looked so happy and in love. Now I just need a week of sleep!

Why I eloped

or why weddings are bad. My sister is a wreck. She is a hormonal, tired, stressed bitch from hell. And that's putting it nicely. My mom is wreck. That's because, according to my sister, she can't do anything right. Anything. Nothing, zip, nada, nechevo. My poor mother. All she's doing is trying to make everything perfect for my sister. The problem: when there is a problem, my sister's definition of resolution is that everyone agrees with her. One day my sister hates her soon to be in-laws. If we just listen and nod, but not agree with her, then we are horrible, horrible people. If we join in the bashing, then we are causing drama. Except that the next day she loves them and if we can't anticipate that, we are trouble-makers. I just want to bitch slap her. And, she thinks that my mom and I are thick as thieves and she can't join in the club. And, of course, that means we are ganging up on her. I don't think I've ever bitten my tongue so much in my entire life. It is her wedding and I do want her to be happy. But geez, do you really want to piss off everyone else in the process? I just can't wait until it's over. Hopefully then everything else will be back to normal.

Ready to go

I'm all packed and ready to go. My toenails are drying as I type. I've watered all my plants, inside and out. Although, I don't think I will be getting any squash this year. I was hoping that because I wasn't outside much, I was just missing the bee rush. However, all my squash get to 2 to 3 inches big and then wither. Oh well, better luck next year. My heavy suitcase sits by the front door. I think I have everything, and if not, I know I can get it there. I'm throwing my sister a lingerie party tomorrow and thankfully, Frederick's of Hollywood was having a sale yesterday. Things are going well. I plan on seeing my best friend in the whole wide world, Camille, and I'm even going to have dinner with my old friend Andrea. She called me on the 4th and we had a great talk. Hopefully we remain friends. It will be great to see all my family again too. Tons of people will be there, including family I haven't seen in about 6 years. I think this will be a great trip.

And of course, I can't leave without a few bird pictures. This is a Great Egret in a tree.


This little guy is a juvenile Green Heron. He let me get real close, but then put up his little crest when I got too close. I love it, because it looks like a cute little mohawk.

I don't remember if I mentioned this, but I also received a diploma from UW for a Master's degree. That makes my second MA in the same field, but at least now I feel like I got something from UW (besides some of the best friends a girl could have).

Hope everyone is doing well. I need to eat something before the cab gets here.

Read it now!

Awhile back I read Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. This autobiographical work tells of her childhood in Africa as part of the white ruling class (although not wealthy). It goes on to describe the horror of independence for all parties involved and the strange re-identification that every African must make after independence. Fuller is an excellent writer and I look forward to reading her other books as well. And, I am excited to write, I have found her fictional counterpart. I have just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible. This book easily compares to Fuller's. Kingsolver focuses on a missionary family with four daughters, which moves to the Congo the year before independence is declared. The book is written from the perspective of the mother and the four daughters, in a diary form. Kingsolver obviously did her homework and the lives, traditions, religion, and socio-econonic structure of the Africans is crystal clear. Her characters are well-defined and so beautifully written about that you can picture them, as if you've met them before. This is one of the rare books that you don't want to get to the end, because you don't want the book to end. You want to keep reading and reading. Unfortunately, the book does end. But it does so on a wonderful note. This is the first of Kingsolver's books I've ever read. It will not be the last.

A little bit of this and that

Everyone is gone. The house is quiet and relatively clean. And I miss my husband. It seems like he was barely here before he left again. Oh yeah, that's right, that's because he was barely here. I had to drive him to his ship at 6:00 in the morning (the morning people). Since I was up that early anyway, I went bird watching. And that was wonderful. I identified five new birds. Not bad.

But now, I'm just tending to my garden. These are my squash plants about a week and a half ago. They are now twice the size and blooming and hopefully I will have squash to eat before I leave for my sister's wedding. I'm afraid they will all die while I'm gone. But I still don't know anyone close enough to come water them (ok, I know one person who's pretty close, but she can't drive. And I don't want her in my house).

I have also been spotting more than birds. Last week, while at the wonderful, amazing, terrific Norfolk Botanical Gardens, I spotted this little guy. And got a picture. How wonderful is that!

It's a fox for all you people who don't get out much. We just stared at each other for a while and then he ran off. He was beautiful. I wanted to run off with him, but I got the impression he really didn't want me following him.

And that's it right now. I leave later this week for Dallas, TX for my baby sister's wedding. I can't wait to see all my family and Camille. But I wish they were out here instead.

A day off

Wes had Sunday off. It was his last day off, pretty much all summer, since they will be leaving soon for 7 weeks. And we had had the kids and his dad here for more than a week. So guess what we did Sunday? If you guessed that we ran around naked and had hot, dirty, nasty sex in every room of our house you would be. . . . wrong. Not that we didn't want to do that. Trust me, we really, really wanted to do that. But, we're parents. So instead, we spent 3 hours in the car to watch Allison's dance recital for three hours and then we drove 3 more hours home. And, her dance, 3 minutes long. We drove 6 hours and watched 3 hours of bad dancing for a 3 minute dance. A 3 minute dance mostly spent skipping (out of step) around the stage. But as Wes said when I pointed this out to him after her dance, "It was worth it."

Sleep deprivation

If the government doesn't want to be accused of torture, it should just give the alleged terrorists five or six kids that they must take care of all by themselves. They will give everything up in a matter of days. I mean everything. And they will cry. Like babies.
The kids left yesterday. I believe they gain their energy by sucking sleep away from everyone around them. The more sleep they steal, the more energy they have.

But the visit went well. I can tell I'm not depressed anymore because I handled the kids much better. I was more patient with them and was able to focus on the good things rather than the bad. We played a toooooooon of board games. I love board games. They make me laugh and smile and they're a great way to bond with the kids. Some of my best memories as a kid are playing board games with the family and I'm happy to pass those memories along to the next generation.

And we went to the local fair. Where the kids rode the same ride over and over again. At least we got our monies worth of rides. Overall, it was a great visit. I will leave you with these pictures of fun (notice I'm not in any of them).

Deep breath in

The kids got here a day early. No big deal. It's all good. The x forgot to send enough of Victor's ADHD medication. That's not good and it's a huge deal. She's mailing it tomorrow. We've been hanging out and playing lots of games. We also went to the botanical gardens to wear the kids out. Guess who got worn out? And then, Friday night, we played the looooooooooooongest game of UUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO in the entire world. I think the Uno gods were jealous because we had been ignoring it for games like Monopoly Jr., Risk (which is supposed to be long) and Hands Down. Well, the final laugh is at the Uno gods because now I am never playing that game again. Ever. Right now everyone is golfing, except for me, because I wanted to remember what it was like to be alone. It is wonderful! I love it! I should do it more often!

Birds, birds, birds!!!

Wes goes back to work tomorrow. He has had two weeks off and we had our little "vacation". We went to Jamestown, Yorktown, the Botanical Gardens and camping in North Carolina. Mostly though, we were bird watching. We both love being outside and hiking and stuff and I've always loved birds, just didn't know much. We bought a birding software and it is so cool. And useful. It has videos and the sounds of birds, pictures from various positions and male/female/juveniles. Yesterday we identified six (SIX) new birds in only two hours at the Botanical Gardens. It was cooler and kind of cloudy. Before we went I was complaining that I hadn't seen a woodpecker or identified a hawk yet. Yes, I've seen plenty of hawks, but usually I'm the one driving and I don't think the highway patrol would be pleased with me if I pulled over and got out my bird book. Anyway, guess what we saw at the Gardens? Yes, a beautiful Downy Woodpecker (black wings with white spots. Absolutely gorgeous). We also saw a Northern Harrier (a type of hawk). It flew very low, right over us and then perched in a nearby tree for about 10 minutes. It was awesome and very large. (Next on our list of purchases will be a high-powered digital camera so I can take pictures where the birds are identifiable.) We saw two types of blue birds (not bluebirds): the Indigo Bunting and Blue Grosbeak. American Goldfinches flew in huge groups over the prairie area of the gardens. They're tiny, loud and stunning. We also identified a Tufted Titmouse and a Brown-Headed Nuthatch. It was a wonderful day and I love this new hobby. Birds are so spectacular and fun. And I love being outside all the time.

Later this week we will get the munchkins and Wes's dad will visit. Things will be busy. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.

more pics

This little guy is the reason we saw the deer in the last blog. He saw us and freaked out, pulling his head in and closing his little trap door. We all know how much I love the turtles, so even though I am not the most patient of people (major understatement), we stood perfectly still for more than 15 minutes waiting for him to come out to play. While standing perfectly still, the deer showed up. Once she realized we were watching her, she began watching us. But as long as we didn't get too close, she didn't care that we were there.

I have been working on a pretty regular basis. One of the high schools started requesting me every time they had a position available. I told the person in charge of the subs that I would love to work full time next year and loved their school. I think they like me because I'm willing to sub for any topic. But school ends next week. I hope they remember me next year.

Second try, sorta successful

Wes and I went to Jamestown on Thursday. We saw neat historical stuff. And we saw a lot of wildlife. This is one of the many pictures I wanted to post, but I guess you will have to get the pictures day by day.

Also, never camp in your husband's old (more than 20 years) tent if it is supposed to rain. It doesn't matter if your stepson is advancing in Cub Scouts. Go to the ceremony and leave before you wake up at 3:00am soaking wet with everything in the tent floating. Especially if you live 4 hours a way and forgot useful things, like umbrellas, ponchos, giant plastic bags. Not much fun. Not much fun at all.

This blog should be retitled

I'm having problems uploading pictures which makes what I want to say pointless. Will resume when Blogger fixes the problem.

Day of Remembrance

To those whose lives ended in a foreign land,
fighting against tyranny, injustice and others like yourselves,
we say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

To those who enlisted because that's what Americans do,
to those who fought because it was the right thing to do,
we say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

To those whose children only know them as a picture,
whose parents, siblings and spouses grow old without you,
we say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

To those whose high school graduation picture
forever marks your age at your death,
we say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

To those who fought wars of ideology,
without agreeing or knowing what they were fighting for,
we say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

To those whose memories and lives were pushed aside
because the American public disagreed with foreign policy,
we say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

To those who we spat upon and thrown out on the streets,
who lost your families, homes, dignity and self-respect,
we ask your forgiveness, say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

To those who wake up in the night,
screaming, sweating and in fear,
we say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

To those who left as one person,
and returned as someone else,
we say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

To those who left as strong, independent young people,
and returned without limbs, with a broken body and soul,
we say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

To those who left as intelligent and cultured young people,
and returned not able to sign your name or tie your shoe,
we say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

To the old men who bowed under the weight of freedom,
to the old women who cared for them when they returned,
to the young men and women who left loved ones,
to the young men and women who never returned,
we say thank you and bow our heads in remembrance.

Please remember to observe a minute of silence at 3:00pm. If you have children, please explain to them the purpose of this day. Our military deserves to be honored, respected and remembered for their sacrifice for America.