Fall is coming

So excited I got to wear my yellow boots today.. no it wasn't raining... but I needed to clean out the hot tub and those last few inches of water can be chilly in bare feet... so I donned the bright yellow boots and I must say my feet were happy!!

Its been a slow week.. one that seemed to drag on and on... Mike and I both dealt with fall allergies earlier in the week making breathing impossible and sleep hard to come by.. but now it seems to have passed. We took advantage of having nothing planned this weekend and slept in both Saturday and Sunday.

When I wasn't working I was doing research for our 25/50 Alaskan Cruise for next summer. My parents will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and Mike and I will be hitting 25 years-- Ever since I read < ALASKA by James Mitchner I have been intrigued by Alaska. Lots of very unique history and I can't wait to see the landscape...

Fall is coming-- the air has changed over to cool mornings.. cool evenings and unpredictible days. But today was nice-- warm sun-- we got a chance to do alittle yard work and start preparing for Winter.. While most of the flowers have stopped blooming These beauties are still going strong-- I totally love the contrast of the blue against all the green... And so does Mr. Wiggles

Bonnies Trip

Nothing new happening this week... for those of you wondering Bonnie did survive her vacation...

She got a nice email and picture from Madison before she left

Bonnie,

I am so excited that you are coming to visit, mom never plays with me
anymore because she has to study... although im not showing you where the
treat closet is and i am hiding my greenies!! And although i do love your
food, ive found better dinner... rice and chicken, all you have to do is
throw up a little.... works like a charm
love
Madison

While Bonnie was not a expert at the car ride-- it took her over an hour to actually sit in the car she did make it in one peice. And from what we could tell she enjoyed her visit with Madison and was very happy to her Amanda



Vacationing actually brought the puppy out in her... she walked herself out the front door on Sunday and proceeded the meander down the driveway... deafness (so she says) prevented her from hearing me call her back... and before I knew it she was walking down the center of Silverleaf..As I walked out to bring her back she didn't even look back as she galloped (ok maybe more like trotted) straight down the street like she actually had somewhere else go! hmmm wondering if Madison put her up to that???

Its more than money

I have never been one to look at the long distance phone bill or how much gas is... these are facts of life and in my mind they just are a part of life... but lately... ok since it went over $3.00 a gallon I have been alittle obsessed with gas prices... today.. I smiled at $2.09 and then when I drove by the WAWA $1.97 I think I actually cheered out loud... amazing what can make you smile on a Monday....

Home AGAIN!

Just got home after a quick down to

The weather was incredible.. soo cool in the evening and so warm in the day. We started out Saturday doing a little yard sale shopping. Amanda was successful at finding a kitchen table-- She quickly put the outdoor table back on the deck which we thoroughly enjoyed eating at for dinner. And then it was off to the football game!

After alittle shopping in downtown Blacksburg we hit the grocery store and Home Depot, but sadly for Mike there was no trip planned for Walmart... And then finally home for Dinner on the deck
Today was the ZETA parents brunch--Yummy buffet and awards at the Holiday Inn across from Campus. The girls did a wonderful job of hosting this event and I think all the parents were proud of their girls. Amanda was recognized for her work as Alumni Chair-- and she presented three Moms who were VT ZETA's themselves with a picture frame. Shes worked very hard at this position which apparently has been neglected in the past few years. And it seems to be paying off for her as the alumni are very appreciative for being thought of and contacted.
I have to really thank Mike for his patience this weekend because throughout all the activities I got alittle sidetracked and went on a hunt for Hokie birds-- You see there are all these different Hokie birds scattered around Blacksburg as part of a campaign called
Gobble de Art --Each bird was created by a different artist and each is very unique--I got it in my mind that I could take pictures of all 75!! And the scavenger hunt began-- We had Mike making quick turns here and there... pulling over on the side of the road as we jumped out into traffic and ran across the busy football weekend streets so that we could get the pictures-- Sadly I think I still need about 40 birds.. but we made quite a dent into my goal... had I only known there was a map of where they all were-- but I guess that would have taken the fun out of it!!--oh well... maybe they will still be there for my next trip!!

Is it Friday yet???

Counting down the hours-- its almost time for ZETA parents weekend. We have our football tickets, we have our snacks for the ride down and we have our reams of paper as gifts for Amanda... we are ready. And Bonnie shes ready too! This will be her FIRST vacation-- her FIRST car ride farther than the VET-- and the FIRST time she has ever been invited anywhere... BIG weekend for Bonnie.. and she is ready! She has bathed and practiced her non-exsistant leash skills all week to ready herself for this journey-- This old girl has her bags packed and is waiting by the door!
Madisonnnnnnn here we come!! And Grandpa has treats!!

This makes me happy

If that doesn't make you smile I don't know what will!!!
Yes those are yellow rain boots... and yes next time it rains you will see me sporting them as I splash through the puddles!!
So they weren't my idea its ok... It was Amanda (my personal shopper) who decided that we needed rainboots-- of course hers are alittle more subdued... but with polka dots they will still make you smile. Now I know what you're thinking and its ok.. because after you think about it for awhile I know you're gonna want some too... and then it'll be a fashion trend and rainy days won't be so gloomy with everyone splashing in these fashion foward babies! Another happy moment brought to you by TARGET.com!!!
......................... LET IT RAIN

Feather

Madison was totally into the geese when we visited the lake this summer. And when she wasn't rolling in duck poop she was searching for feathers. As you can see it was pure joy when she found one. She trotted around with it like it was a steak bone.

I knew I wanted to scrap these pictures but wasn't sure how to get them all on one page and while its cute and a memory I wanted to save it wasn't worth doing two pages. Then I looked at my Autumn leaves calendar (which was a few days behind) and save the inspiration for 9/5 and 9/10-- perfection!
I totally have to work on my scanning skills-- Still using Microsoft paint even though photoshop is sitting here waiting for me to learn....

todays accomplishment

So I spent most of the day playing in the scraproom. Mike is still in Richmond at the Races... with everyone else from here apparently... He just called and said the Mellendars were sitting right in front of him and the Plums were at the end of the row....how totally funny because he went with Mike C and Chris G. must be quite the party in their section---

In print

So I was cleaning out my email box... sometimes it gets out of control... and as I was deleting old emails and filing others I came across an email from Bonnie Schiedel--- no I don't know her either but a couple of months ago when I was online I answered some questions about scrapbooking... well her email was to tell me that she quoted me.. I guess I was in a waxing mode that day!! haha anyway I was in print.....

Tonight the guys are doing the Nascar thing and I am home doing my scrapping thing... working on cleaning up alittle and trying to catch up on the lake book.

All grown up

So he's all grown up--shops for and Dresses himself now. Definatley something a Mother can be proud of!!! (Yes those are boxers proclaiming my son is a redneck!)

And apparently Tif is all grown up and dressing herself!! Gotta love the Citygirl meets lake look! (I promise there is a cute Bikini under all those clothes)

And yes Tim is all grown up too!!! Soooo old he got two cakes for his birthday!!

Hehehehe-- Another Labor Day weekend come and gone. We drove away as fast as we could from the hurricane winds and rain down to the lake where it was HOT and Sunny!! Really couldn't have asked for nicer weather. We celebrated Tims birthday in his new house and the next morning Karen came over and made some awesome omelets (fired up just right) with alittle mimosa on the side... Toni took me for a tube ride on Mabel... just the way I like it SLOOWWWWWW.... and Mike caught some fish... although I have no photographic evidence... so you can come to your own conclusions. Pretty uneventful weekend.. but fun as always.

Friends

Just looking at my pictures from the lake. Heres to learning to be patient.

Move in and move on

The weekend came and it was time to move Karen and Time into their new lake house. Its a huge place that I know they will have many pleasant memories made in.
Living at the lake.. its been my dream for so long, but as life threw us curve balls it was pushed to the back burner so many times that now just not even a topic of discussion anymore.
We used to take the boat out every chance we got and look for FOR SALE signs, and read the lake book till the pages came out-- we've walked more lots than I can even remember yet ownership has been elusive. I am happy that Karen was able to fulfill her dream-- even happier that shes close enough to Toni's that we can visit on the boat without any hassle. We'll miss her spiced eggs in the morning but I know that weekend gossip, laying in the sun and dinner will continue we'll just have another dock to share the good times on
We came home from the lake with one stinky dog--Madisons infatuation with Duck poop become alittle odiferous this weekend. While its funny to watch her run down to the yard and roll in it -- not so much fun to ride home in the car with her--- And poor Amanda had her for an extra hour in the car... good news is she did get a bath once she made it to Christiansburg-- While I am gonna miss Madison alot I know she'll do her job and keep good care of Amanda in the weeks to come. Did I mention Chris has a kitten?? I wonder if kittens can care for their owners?

Ohh-- and for those keeping track its raining for the first time in... forever... I am taking it as a good sign... wash away the old... clean up for the new

Bonnie

Is it good training?
Is it stubborness?
Is it lack of intelligence?
Is it attitude?
I don't know but its been amusing...
Madisons been gone for a week now, and sadly Jakes been gone for a few months. So its just Bonnie--- And everythings been ok-- except when I moved the kitchen around to make way for the wine refrigerator I decided that we only need one dog bowl out. So I moved the mat, the water and Bonnies bowl in front of the corner cupboard. Yes that is Jake and Madisons spot-- but I really saw no need to keep Bonnies bowl where it was on the right side of the kitchen where it was kinda in the way.
It took me by surprise when I fed Bonnie and she didn't come to eat... she generally does not miss a meal. And to be honest the next day when she went over took a peice of food out and carried it to the living room I wasn't happy--I have enough hay being tracked in that I really didn't need dog food crumbs too... And then that night she went over to the bowl stood there and ate a few peices before backing away... Self imposed Diet?? I think not....
But it wasn't until last night that it hit me.... she's not eating because its not her SPOT!! Being the nice guy that I am (certainly not the leader of my pack as the Dog whisperer would say) I moved her bowl back to her spot... and WALAA she promptly laid down and started to eat.
So I ask WHY???
Is it good training?
Is it stubborness?
Is it lack of intelligence?
Is it attitude?

None of the animals in my life are "trained" but they do all have habits... and over the years (especially the FAT years) Bonnie has been reprimanded (ALOT) for eating others food...Both Jake and Madison like to graze-- and Bonnie never could pass a bowl with food in it with stopping... So I am guessing that poor Bonnie knew that wasn't her SPOT and was just trying to stay out of trouble....
One would think that since it was her bowl (totally different) that she would "get" it... or maybe in her old age she just wasn't willing to give up on her spot close to the rug, sink and the back door????
Anyway all is right in Bonnies world... her bowls and Mat are back where they started.. and old habits come back quickly to me too, as I stepped over her time after time while cooking dinner last night.
Well almost all right... now we just have to convince her to sleep on Jakes old bed instead of next to it... unfortunately her bed had alittle accident... called Madison!! Hmmm Madison has had a grand old time tearing it apart all summer... I sewed and sewed but its so thread bare it had to GO! We will deal with that problem next week!

Alittle something for Christopher and Amanda

It seems there are 100 reasons why I am late to work in the morning... most of them having to do with wanting 5 more minutes of sleep or the fact that my lack of organization has caught up with me. But today it was a whole different reason. For you Christopher and Amanda I bring you a slice of home and a reason for being late that I know you probably have experienced at least once in your driving experience.
Yes- There was a cow on the road this morning.. he wasn't all that happy to be on the road either... he was mooing alot-- that made me giggle... probably calling his mom because he wasn't that big of a cow-- I am not sure where he was supposed to be- but he did cause a fuss... of course the cars around me all jumped on their cell phones I guess to call the police to do something.. but not me-- I grabbed the camera and Moo'd right back at him--

Other items of note that I feel the need to share:

• Last week this time Gas was $2.79 today $2.68--- a trend that I hope stays around for awhile.
• MY PUPPY IS COMING TO VISIT ME TOMORROW
• Karen moves into her new lake house tomorrow and we will be driving down to help out with the big move in!
• I have green grass again in the back yard
• Mike had an awesome week at work with his new boss in town-- seems they were quite impressed with the work he does for their BIGGEST client downtown. And will be rewarding him with the list of things he needs make his life easier, as well as adding three new positions to the service dept. Employment opportunities available for those who can handle the stress.
• Did I mention MY PUPPY IS COMING to visit ME?????

Every Mothers Nightmare

EMERGENCY ADVISORY 10:30 a.m. -- University to cancel remaining classes
By Larry Hincker


William Charles Morva
BLACKSBURG, VA., August 21, 2006 -- In an effort to help law enforcement officials, all remaining classes will be canceled. Students should return to their residence hall rooms or apartments and not venture out.

Employees are asked to remain in their offices until further notice.

The south side of campus (south of Washington Street) remains blocked off by police. Those roads are closed to vehicular traffic.

Police continue to pursue the William Morva, the escaped prisoner from the Montgomery County Jail who is a suspect a homicide case.

Police report the suspect is now wearing a tie-dye shirt, khaki shorts and is barefoot.

Podcast (10:30 a.m.): Statement by Vice President Kurt Krause | Download MP3 (Length: 1:18)

##06415##

So I have been getting these updates from Amanda about this guy all weekend... And then this morning she called as she drove to class --only to find out the roads are closed There were police everywhere with machine guns... then a few minutes ago she called to say this guy was holding kids hostage and they were cancelling class for the day..
Shes on her way home. Locking the door This is not what is suppose to happen on the first day of school...
Be Safe--

My new appliance

So I mentioned that I spent yesterday moving things around in the kitchen... Mike brought me home a wine refrigerator.. unfortunately my house isn't really big enough for such a luxery. We moved it around from room to room and it didn't really fit anywhere.. so I moved the microwave cart and ALL its belongs out and made room for this baby-- The funny thing is I actually own enough wine that I filled it up immediately. Who knew?

Today was alittle slow. I had so much on the list but I got caught up in finding Amanda a doctor.. seems she has an ear infection, and putzing around outside with Mike that nothing really got accomplished. I did manage to catch this shot of Mr. Wiggles-- seems he likes the new water garden. I am hoping tomorrow I will actually have my first flower in there. One of the water lilys actually has a bud.
Maybe tomorrow I will get motived enough to figure out what to do with the BLANK wall I now have in the kitchen.. I am thinking we need a pot rack (which I can't afford) so maybe I can come up with something creative for the wall that will serve a purpose too??

Saturday dinner

After a day spent in the kitchen (more about that later) Toni, Robin and Nick joined us for Dinner and alittle football. Toni had brought over pictures of Kays new house. I had seen them online but in person was even better. It looks like they are all moved in now.


Green with envy that she got the home she wanted... I can only dream about moving for now. As Mike and I talk move about moving it seems he does more and more work to this house. Not sure if that means something but for now I just push it out of my mind and think of what could be.

  

 
So we said goodbye 

staying with grandma

 
Does this look like the picture of someone who wants to go away to college??? I think not...
Our last day- 

Mystery solved.

It was a first-- today I saw the corn coming down... I have driven past the fields for as long as I can remember and the corn has always been a mystery... one day it is little sprouts in the dirt, the next it is reaching for the sky and then without notice its gone. But today I saw it go... Like a blur I raced past the school and in a blink I saw the corn eating machine take a swath of green and in its wake lay red dirt... funny how something so everyday like corn fields can be so mysterious.

Those fields made me remember when I learned that all corn is not alike. I was 19 and we had driven home on a summer day and the peaches and corn from a field called out to us. Did you know you can cook field corn til the cows come home and it will never be edible? Yes even in irreverent summertime pleasures there is something to be learned....

3 days

The countdown has started. Amanda came out to lunch with me so that we could go buy school supplies--and it hit me again. Shes leaving.. you would think this would be routine by now but for some reason it never gets easier. Four hours away just doesn't cut it... life shouldn't hurt and children shouldn't grow up.

The twists and turns of life-- with Christopher on night shift, Amanda going back to school everything seems just alittle off kilter. And Madison --how quiet will life be without her?

As I work on acceptance it seems two steps forward and one step back.
All I want is everyone to have the view through my rose colored glasses--- Happiness is not a gift to be given but if it were I would wrap it up-- today they may not know it but they both need it. I can feel it coming... call it Mothers intuition. And we all know Mothers always right.

Weekend of pictures

They say pictures should tell stories.. we have alot of stories from this weekend and alot of pictures. This was the last weekend home before school started and Amanda invited Jenny, her sorority sister (her BIG) to the lake. Jenny graduated in June and recently took a job in Maryland far from home. And in true sorority sister style these ladies were out for a good time! We swam, jetskied, laid in the sun for hours, drank more margaritas then we will ever admit, played in the water and spent alot of time laughing. Hard to believe it was just one weekend! We all truely enjoyed Jennys company-- whoever said Engineers were boring have never met Jenny.

Tommy drove down after work on Saturday to go fishing-- but look who the big winner was! Yes after all these years Corey finally got his fish and it was a nice looking one at that!

I think this one says it all!-- Lots of fun!! thanks guys for sharing such a good time with us!
 

So Ijust might be getting one more pond... kinda the natural kinda of pond. It seems that the backhoe guys might have tapped my well...ok they had to have because they just don't spring leaks now do they??? We noticed last night that some of the dirt around the well was darkened... wet... and this morning well theres a big ole circle of wetness... Anything else want to go wrong??? Is it friday yet???

Can I cry now?

I am hating technology with a passion right now... I came to sit down tonight and post a few weekend pictures... tell alittle story and I have NOTHING... the computer ate my photos... my camera ate my photos... somewhere something went wrong and I just wanna cry... 3 whole days of my life are gone... poof gone... never again to be relived... its wrong on so many levels... and could I have avoided it???... yes I could have... I could have manually deleted the photos instead of allowing the computer to do it... but IT HAS NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE... soooooo what to do???

Well--- I was gonna tell you about alittle conversation I overheard... I was on the computer on Sunday... and it went like this...
Q:"Are you ready for a ride?"
A:"I don't know how to use the seatbelts"

Well that was enough to pull me away from looking for crusies for the 25/50 vacation... yep Mike was taking Nick out in the '67
INSERT PHOTO of Nick in the Car HERE....

Then I wanted to share Madisons Bathtime experience... even though when she visits Grandma for vacation baths are optional---it was time... and she knew it... so I filled up the wheelbarrow with water and inserted dog!!
INSERT EXTRA CUTE PHOTO of Madison soaking wet peering out of wheelbarrow HERE

And then I had some great shots of Christopher and Tiffany... and even a couple of Paul the roommate-- ya know the embarassing kind of him taking a shot...
INSERT MORE PHOTOS HERE

Ugghhh can I say again --I AM NOT HAPPY!!
so I leave you with this... something that for whatever reason was left on the darn memory card

My yard now flat... grass to come soon.. I hope

grocery store

God bless the man who calls his wife and asks if there is anything we need at the grocery---Why of course there is!! We always need something... and to be honest I can't remember the last big grocery trip we've made or when the last time we actually had bread and milk in the house at the same time... but alias it doesn't seem to be affecting our waistlines at all. As a matter of fact it has made dinner alittle more creative.

Speaking of dinner last night... about 30 peices of BBQ chicken, 3 bottles of wine, Mac and cheese that I made with powdered milk (shhh don't tell the kids), canned corn and broccoli salad, 2 loaves of french bread ---oh and rice for Corey--- lots of laughs, alittle intelligent conversation and good company...

See I guess there is food in the house-- it just takes alittle more effort to get it together... Hopefully with Mike hitting the store It will take alittle less creativity and its One less stop for me... and as always it'll be a surprise when I get home.

Memo: To Family and Friends

Memo:

To Family and Friends-

It has come to my attention that my Air Conditioner has run consistantly for 96 hours straight. No I do not beleive it has turned off when I wasn't looking or while I have slept. Therefore I feel the need to inform you that in the very near future I may be moving into a cardboard box as I know that Northern VA Elec. will come collecting and I can only imagine that invoice will come in close to the National Debt. So please save any large boxes for me as I am not expecting any deliveries in the near future and have become accustomed to spreading out.



Seriously the only thing happening right now is incredible heat. I am literally watering my plants at 10pm at night only to have them wilted by 8am in the morning... so I waddle out there every morning and spray them down again-- They seriously are whispering to me as I pull up in the driveway at night.
And for someone who never uses her AC in the car let me tell you I have it going full tilt right now and it really doesn't even put a dent in the temp.

HOT HOT HOT

Oh my gosh could it be any hotter??? And of course we set up a list (a long list) of outdoor chores for this weekend. Mike moved his compressor to the new carport behind the garage, and we have powerwashed both carports and are working on the driveway. I replante some tall phlox and 4 hostas that I been growing in the woods and attempted to save some lambs ears that I had orginally planted when Amanda was in preschool... she liked to pet them... add to that the normal vacuming and dusting, and mopping the kitchen floor and its been a day!

Mike has finished the deck except for the lattice skirt--- the handrails and last steps are up and while they look great I preferred the stairs without them.... too bad the county wouldn't agree with me.

Before he put those last steps up I had to take a picture of Amandas handywork. She was here the morning Al poured the concrete footers... We have missed every other pour he has done at the house and were always alittle sad that we couldn't leave our mark-- But as you can see she made sure that no one would ever forget we were here!
And yes those are paw marks!!


A big congradulations to Miss Tiffany who called this morning to announce she has a new job. Can't think of the name of it right now but its in Lakeside-- yet another place in Richmond that I have no clue where it is... but trust me I can always use a place to stop when doing the trek down 95... anyway with everyone employed now I am feeling the stars are starting to align!! Life is good--

Amandas Birthday

I can't believe shes 20 already! We celebrated Amandas birthday in style at Carmello's in Old town . The food was yummy-- oh yes we ate two bread baskets before dinner even started.. had calamera for appetizers, Pasta for dinner and dessert to die for... Carmelo's even put us in our own private little room... very cool--
Maybe next time we will brush up on our Italian before we go... none of us could pronounce our meals but that didn't stop us from trying.
Had to get one last shot of her before she left!!! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!