Shutterbugs

Last of the Derbies!

2012-02-04T12:19:00.001-05:00

I attended my last Pinewood Derby of the season today. A Unit Commissioner's work is never done!

This one had a small crowd, but the excitement was still there. Several well-painted and fast cars were in attendance:

I enjoyed seeing Patrick Starfish driving the car on the left!

These are the older Scouts' cars: 2nd year Webelos.

I liked the flower power car...these were the siblings' cars. The one next to it is from one of my middle school friend's that I sub for. I never saw these cars race, but they looked good waiting their turn.

Can't wait to see what's in store next year!

Yet Another Pinewood Derby Saturday

2012-01-28T17:04:00.001-05:00

I attended my second Pinewood Derby of the season today. Unfortunately, I arrived when they had a lot of lag time. There was 45 minutes to the next race, and even though most of the racers were present, they were still waiting on one to arrive. Figures.

I still had a great time looking at the cars; this one was my favorite. God Bless America!

These made me ready for lunch! A hot dog and Ice cream sandwich. WHat more could you ask for?

Gotta love racing season!

Happy Sweet...17?

2012-01-24T21:34:00.001-05:00

My baby is 17 today. Wow.

How did he get to be so old? (How did I get to be so old?)

He asked for his favorite cake, the holiday poppy-seed cake with orange glaze that I make for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And apparently Nick's birthday now.

A little piece stuck to the pan, so I just stuck a candle in the boo-boo.

Huff and puff and blow them all out!

Happy 17th birthday, Nick! Hope you enjoyed that cake!

Icing on the Trees

2012-01-22T12:28:00.001-05:00

Got some more ice overnight.

Luckily, the roads are fine.

Where's the real snow, though?

An Icy Derby

2012-01-21T16:45:00.001-05:00

Yet more wintry weather. Nothing much to speak of, though. Here's what I woke up to this morning...

Some areas got some snow--we had snow last night that turned to freezing rain. Left some ice. Lovely. Thankfully the roads are clear. I have places to go today.

Early this morning Kiki the kitty was going crazy at the window. There were lots of birds out and about, especially the cardinals! They wouldn't stay still too long for pictures, but I managed to snag a couple...

Around lunchtime I headed to my former Cub Scout Pack's annual Pinewood Derby races, held at my church this year. As a Unit Commissioner, I try to visit each of my 5 units every month, and I thought the Derby would be a great opportunity for a visit. It was.

Here are some of the cars from the kids:

Love the Snickers car! It actually did very well in the races, too.

The adults have their own race, also...called the Mad Max. The Cubbie rules don't apply to the adults, so there are lots of overweighted cars, and cars with a little extra oomph!

The one with the doll face scares me a little.

The Cubmaster put a lot of work into his car. His is the box the block of wood came in.

There are always fabulous prizes for the boys whose cars do well. Look at all these trophies!

And they're off!

The Derby is always a highly-attended meeting, and everyone has a great time. Who wouldn't, with car races, food, and fun opportunities to have your picture made?

Of all the days to not wear make-up. :)

Great job by all!

What Is This?

2012-01-09T21:16:00.000-05:00

I was in a classroom all day with no windows. I came outside at lunchtime and found a few snow flurries. No indication of this on the weather reports, but it IS January, and cloudy, so a few flurries are OK.

This is near the public library just down the street from the middle school.

After school when Nicky and I left, it was still snowing. Hard. Here's the view from the car as I was driving home...Nicky took the picture on my cell phone.

By the time all was said and done, here's what we had:

And still coming down at night.

When it finished, we were only left with about 3/4 of an inch of snow. Nothing much at all. But every bit of it unexpected. The weather guys were very surprised.

They weren't the only ones. Gotta love these DC/Maryland winters!

First Snow of the Season!

2012-01-05T16:26:00.000-05:00

Heh, heh, heh....

OK, so this is barely a trace. But it's still snow.

I kept seeing on Facebook that the kids were refreshing the school page to see if school had been called because of a snow day.

I mean, really, kids?? For this?

It's still early. Don't fret. I'm sure the good stuff's coming.

A Good Night for Chili

2012-01-02T19:49:00.000-05:00

Winter has finally arrived here in Maryland. A cold front moved through early this morning, bringing winds and much colder temperatures. It seemed like a good night for chili.

I made tonight's chili recipe a while back...recipe and story here. After that fiasco, I put the recipe in the back on the recipe file and forgot about it. I dusted it off last month for the Christmas party at the pantry I volunteer at, and it was the hit of the night. I decided to make it again.

The chipotle chili referenced in the recipe has changed in the stores a number of times, but is now Hormel Chipotle Chicken Chili. That's it on the left in the picture.

The recipe turned out so much better than the first time I made it! It's a wonder what you can do when you follow the recipe.

Here's Eric's bowl before eating...he fixed a slice of buttered French bread and a glass of red wine to finish off the meal.

This one is definitely staying in the front of the recipe file from now on!

Happy 2012! A To-do List for the Coming Year

2012-01-01T21:49:00.004-05:00

It's been nearly a year since I've posted to this blog. One day shy, to be exact. Last year was a crazy one. I got a full-time job at the middle school where I sub, teaching the modern day equivalent of Home Ec. I was responsible for all lessons, grading, subject to evaluations at the drop of a hat, meetings out the wazoo with school officials, parents, you name it. In January, I began, at the School board's request, classes to obtain my official teaching certificate. After 26 years out of school, it was very difficult to go back to school! By March, that position was eliminated due to budget constraints in our county. My schedule eased a bit, as I no longer took classes, and when school was out in June, I heaved a huge sigh of relief.

I resumed subbing this school year, and I'm much happier. I just finished a long-term job, teaching 6th graders Reading for 2 months. No stress, because there was an end in sight.

In August 2010, our nest became a little emptier as we dropped JJ off at college at the University of Iowa, 15 hours from home. He did very well in his first year away, but I fretted the whole time he was gone.

And I ate. A lot.

All the hard work on Weight Watchers, out the window. At this point, I've regained all but about 10 pounds. I'm heartbroken, and angry at myself. I did pinpoint that I'm a stress eater. Go figure.

So this new year brings a fresh start. New beginnings. I don't like to think of these as New Year's Resolutions, but as a to-do list of things to accomplish in the next 366 days. (It's Leap Year, don't forget!)

So without further ado, my to-do list for 2012:

1. Make better food choices.
2. Write my choices down. I do better when I'm accountable, if only to myself.
3. Make time for exercise! At least 3 days a week.
4. Keep up with the housework. When I work a lot I tend to let the house slide, and then we live in a mess until I get around to cleaning. A little every day gets the job done.
5. Make time for crafting. I really enjoy crocheting and cross-stitching, but never make time for it, because I think I should be cleaning, or something. This relaxes me, and makes me happy. If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!

Here's my first project of the new year:

I decided on this series that I printed from the free patterns at The Vermillion Stitchery. The cute snowman is Father Time. I had all the supplies on hand, except the fabric. I made a run to Michael's earlier and finished my supplies list.

I hope your to-do list is as fulfilling as mine. Happy New Year!

From Fabric to Rags

2011-01-02T21:32:00.002-05:00

Last week I began my first quilt...a rag quilt. I got the pattern from a fellow teacher at school. It seemed easy enough for a first project, so I bought all the fabric on Black Friday and began the quilt after Christmas.

You need 1 yard each of 8 differnt flannel fabrics. I went with a winter theme, because that's the most of what I could find in the store.

For the filling, a crib-sized package of batting. I actually ran short, but luckily I had some purchased for a project I haven't begun yet.

And of course, a rotary cutter, mat, and ruler.

The squares of flannel are cut into 8-inch squares, the batting 6-inch squares.

That didn't take long.

Then match squares of the same fabric with a piece of batting in between and sew across on the diagonal, chaining the fabric squares as you go. Then clip apart and sew across on the other diagonal. Makes a lovely "X" on the square.

The chaining wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

All done! 64 squares.

Next lay out the squares in a pattern pleasing to you. I liked the diagonal pattern here, but the lone red square in the corner was kind of sad.

Sew each square to the next with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Then assemble each row to the other until you get your quilt--8 squares by 8 squares.

Now for the tough part...each seam must be clipped 1/4 inch. All of them. It took 2 days and my fingers are still numb.

Then wash and dry. Check the dryer vent every 10-15 minutes because this thing will SHED. A LOT.

Voila!

My first rag quilt. I'll probably make this again. After I get the feeling back in my fingers.

Just what I need--a new craft. I enjoyed this, though. And Nicky has already put it to good use! That's nice...I'm glad he likes it. So do I.

A Happy New Year Tree

2011-01-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

Well, it was meant to be a Christmas tree. But time and other priorities got in the way of finishing this project.

I was visiting some of my favorite blogs a few months ago, and I found this very cool project at Polka Dot Pineapple. Lettie is a tremendously creative person and has the best ideas, most of them with fabric or paper. This was a ruffled fabric Christmas tree that I just fell in love with.

First, I had to create the templates. This was the worst part of the whole thing. Very tedious, but now I have them and can make many more trees!

Fourteen different templates cut out of poster board!

I bought this fabric several years ago with no idea what to do with it. Now I know. It has very cute, tiny trees all over it.

Fourteen circles cut out of fabric to make the tree.

Here's a closer view.

The trunk of the tree was an empty thread spool covered in a scrap of fabric and glued into place. Then a regular drinking straw was inserted into the hole of the spool.

After cutting out all the fabric circles, I trimmed the outside edges with pinking shears and took a running stitch around the inside edge, pulling tightly as I went. Each of these forms one of the ruffles of the tree.

After stacking them in order (largest to smallest), I trimmed the straw to fit and topped with a jingle bell. With the tree fabric, a star would have been better, but I didn't have any. No matter...it still looked great!

The view from above is very cute as well.

Check out Lettie's blog and you will find a great assortment of crafts to create! The link above goes to the tutorial for the tree, but clicking on the banner will take you to the most recent posts.

Enjoy! And Happy New Year!

Ice, Ice, Baby

2010-12-31T22:28:00.000-05:00

The family and I visited the National Harbor today...for the first time for all of us except Eric. We attended the Gaylord Hotel's presentation of ICE! It's pretty phenomenal...a group of artisans from Siberia spend a month of 12-hour days creating ice sculptures from 2 million tons of ice. This year's theme was "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".

Everything was made from ice, and colored with food coloring. Unbelievable.

Yes, even the letters! Not the boys, though--they're warm-blooded! The Gaylord provided the parkas for us to wear, as it was a cool 9 degrees in here. Brrr!

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch...

The Whos down in Whoville are playing with their toys.

The Grinch is making poor Max into a reindeer.

JJ thinks he's still a little kid. This was terribly cute, but he said it was terribly uncomfortable. :)

The Grinch is making his move.

There were slides of ice set up for us to come down...thus the parkas. We would have gotten stuck without them. Here's JJ coming down...whee!

I only caught Nicky's green hat on his ride.

Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

The Grinch's heart grew three sizes that day!

Everybody loves Max!

And of course, who could forget Cindy-Lou Who, who was no more than two!

At the end of the tour, there was a beautifully simple Nativity display, also made completely of ice. Love the angel.

The manger scene was surrounded by the animals and Wise Men, but I loved the simple manger scene on its own.

Merry Christmas from the Grinch and us!

On the way out, this tree caught our eye...it's made completely from Marshmallow Peeps. Wow!

The beautiful if slightly dirty Potomac River, with a lovely view of the Beltway and Wilson Bridge from the riverfront of the Gaylord.

The National Harbor's Christmas tree was very huge and imposing, yet beautiful.

It was a lovely way to spend New Year's Eve.

Happy New Year!

Just Another Day in the District

2010-12-30T21:53:00.003-05:00

We headed in to the big city today...down to DC. Eric gets 4 free passes a year to the Newseum, so we took advantage and all went. Great museum...of course, it's near and dear to our hearts, bring that Eric is still in the business and I used to be.

First up, though...we parked at his work and walked to the Newseum from Union Station. What the heck is this??

Turns out it's a Mastercard ad. Something about stepping out in style or something. Weird.

My obligatory picture of the Nation's Capitol. This never gets old.

Now...on to the Newseum. It's a 6-story museum devoted to the news business...print, radio, television, internet...all of it. It has wonderful rotating exhibits and very important permanent ones, such as the Berlin Wall.

These are huge 12-foot pieces of the wall saved and brought over. This side was the East German side with all the grafitti, fighting for freedom...the back side, facing West Germany, was pristine. There was a portion we could touch...not this, though.

Another permanent exhibit is 9/11. Here is a piece of one of the towers from the World Trade Center.

The stories told, the debris found...shocking and sad.

Near the tower is a huge wall collection of the front pages of newspapers from 9/12...many from the US and all over the world.

But this one from the San Francisco Examiner says it all.

Yep.

Moving along...there was a nice collection of comics. Yes, those can be news-worthy, too! Here is one of my favorites from my childhood...

I used to buy Beetle Bailey comic books and devour them, along with The Archies, Richie Rich, Little Lulu...ah, good times.

One of the rotating exhibits was about Elvis. Lots of great music, great pictures, not-so-great pictures...;) Here is the Vegas Elvis outfit in all its sequined glory...

We spent several hours going through all the exhibits and enjoying ourselves. After an excellent dinner at Matchbox near Chinatown:

We popped over the National Portrait Gallery inside the Museum of American Art. There is a display of Norman Rockwell paintings there until Sunday, and I didn't want to miss it. We weren't allowed to take any pictures of the painting, but they were all great.

On our way out of the Rockwell display, we found this awesome license plate art:

The tag messages spell out the Preamble to the Constitution. For those who don't remember it:

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this COnstitution for the UNited States of America.

Way cool. Way cool.

No visit to the Portrait Gallery is complete without a visit to the Presidential Portraits. The White House has a number of them, including President Obama's, so some of the pictures are unofficial. Like this one of President Clinton...

It was painted using different swirly designs coming together to form his face. Weird, but interesting.

We are pooped! But it was a good day. Great family time!

Green Cookies?

2010-12-27T23:18:00.001-05:00

That's what I heard on Christmas Day when I finished my premier batch of Mint Chocolate Chunk Cookies.

Yep...they were green!

One of my students raved about these cookies before the break and I asked for the recipe. He actually remembered to bring it in for me, so I decided to give them a chance.

It was so easy.

Use 1 package of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix.

Add the mix to 1/2 cup of softened butter or margarine, 1/4 teaspoon mint extract, and 6-8 drops of green food coloring. Also add 1 large egg. Mix until a soft dough forms. I needed to mix with my hands to get it all mixed together. Then add 1 cup of creme de menthe chips and 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chunks ( I jsut used chips).

Eric said this looked like mint-chocolate chip ice cream!

Drop 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes. It actually took mine about 12 minutes.

And there they are. Yummy. And so green!

I was surprised...the kids really took to them. They told me next time to leave the green out. But I think the color adds a little something extra. A little oomph.

Here's the recipe link: Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Enjoy the green!

And So It Begins...Again

2010-12-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

Round 2 of the Winter 2010 Snowfest...

It's just a dusting so far, but we are expecting anywhere from 3 to 10 inches of the white stuff. Depending on who's giving the weather.

We'll see.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T20:35:00.000-05:00

Here's hoping for a very Merry Christmas to all!

Another Eagle Scout for Our Troop

2010-12-19T21:01:00.000-05:00

We attended an Eagle Scout ceremony for our latest Eagle Scout in our troop today. Bryan joined our troop in 9th grade, and managed to complete the entire program, including 21 merit badges, 6 rank advancements, and an Eagle project in 3 1/2 years. Unbelievable.

The Flag Corps readying to present the colors.

One boy from each rank was chosen to read Bryan's achievements. JJ got to read the Eagle one. Thank goodness he got home yesterday!

Here's the newest Eagle giving his closing remarks. This is one incredible person.

Congratulations, Bryan and family. What an achievement!

A Secret Snowman Gift

2010-12-18T18:49:00.001-05:00

I am participating in a Secret Snowman activity at school for the season. All week I've been leaving little trinkets in the mailbox of my secret snowman, and I've been receiving presents in return. We did have 2 snow days this week, though, so there will be a glut of gifts come Monday.

My person likes sewing, and blue, so I combined the 2 for the final gift; a crocheted scarf.

I crocheted this with Lion Brand yarn in Colonial. The pattern is "Wedding Favor Scarf" on Lion's website. It was really easy and crocheted using only 1 skein of yarn.

I hope she likes it. If not, I'll keep it!

Cub Scouts Freezing Before a Fire...

2010-12-17T21:42:00.001-05:00

Not the same as the old Chestnuts song!!! But true.

Tonight I visited my old Cub Scout Pack as their Unit Commissioner for their annual December Pack meeting...Christmas caroling around a bonfire. It was doubly Christmas-y because of the snow we just had.

It was cozy, but still cold. I was asked to help the Tiger Cubs sing their song...Jolly Old St. Nicholas. We did OK, but that had better NOT end up on YouTube!

Towards the end of the caroling, we were thrown a bit by the arrival of our local volunteer fire department. We thought they had been called because of our fire.

Turns out that Santa had heard of our bonfire and while he personally wasn't able to attend (he's a little busy this time of year, after all), he sent one of his elves in his place to pass out candy canes to all the good little boys and girls.

That was a nice touch.

It was a good meeting and a very fun evening. But wow, my toes were really red when I got home! Even with a double layer of thick socks and hiking boots.

This meeting is not to be missed, though. And I'm glad I didn't.

Ho, ho, ho!

The First Snow of the Season

2010-12-16T20:42:00.001-05:00

And so it begins.

It's not much...about 2 inches, maybe a little less. But enough to close school before it even started.

A blurry nighttime shot of the Christmas lights in the yard.

Our snowman is liking the snow! I didn't go outside to take this; I just stood on the front stoop. Too cold to actually go outside!

And of course here is my usual shot of the patio set with the snow...not too much, but we'll take it.

Man...snow days already. Who knows what kind of winter lies ahead? We may be in school until July this year.

Cookies, Cookies Everywhere

2010-12-12T18:14:00.001-05:00

I went to a cookie exchange today at my friend and neighbor Becki's house. I've always wanted to host one, but never had a clean enough house or enough time to plan one out. Maybe when I retire. :)

So I went as a guest to one. It was a lot of fun. My contribution was Chocolate-Peppermint Cookies, from a recipe from my friend Amy. Here they are:

I was using an older model camera and couldn't remember how to turn the flash off, so some of these pictures are a little bright and shiny.

Here is the very cute container I put the cookies in--compliments of Target. I just loved this.

Becki has such a cute display for her wine...the frozen containers were actually a part of the greenery. Very festive and it did a great job of keeping the wine chilled. Not that I tried the wine, or anything. ;)

Here's my booty--5 dozen cookies from everyone present. Wow. That's a lot of cookies!

As part of the festivities, we had an ornament exchange. Here's what I got...such a cute reindeer. I stole it from a 5th grader. I'm not proud of that. :) But it was better than the original owner...the girl stole it from the mom of one of my students! That would have been awkward, but I would have done it anyway. That was part of the fun of the day--ornaments were flying around the room to all different people!

I really feel like the season is here. If only I were ready for it. SO much to do, so little time.

Lights...Camera...Christmas!

2010-12-05T20:28:00.001-05:00

Eric put up most of our lights today. The pictures are a tad out of focus, but in reality, the yard looks great!

I love this tree. I wish we could decorate all the way up, but it's a real pain. Looks great anyway.

I got the snowman sign a couple of years ago at a craft show. It has all our names on it on our own mittens. We used it in the kids' Christmas picture this year. The Santa stop sign I got at a craft show when we lived in Florida, so it's at least 16 or 17 years old. Still in great shape. The North Pole sign also came from a craft show...I can't remember where, though, The Cowboy Santa, of course, I got when we lived in Texas, so it's at least 10 years old. Santa is supposed to have a red nose that glows a la Rudolph, but we lost that in the move. I sure spend a lot of time at craft shows!

Eric still has to add the wire Christmas trees and the ice cube snowman. Maybe by next weekend. It was FRIGID out today! We are lucky we got what we did up.

I just love Christmas. Fa la la la la...la la la la!

In the Christmas...Parade

2010-12-04T15:36:00.000-05:00

The little town by the Bay, North Beach, held its annual Christmas parade today. The organizers asked our Boy Scout troop to be the color guard. Scary.

Nicky and I got there and found the Cub Scouts walking with us. No flags. Found the organizer. No flags. Called the former Scoutmaster, whose son was supposed to get the flags and bring them. Still asleep. 20 minutes until the start. One of the moms quickly went to the Legion to get the flags and fight the traffic to get back. No flags at the Legion. (Where they ended up no one knows.) Luckily the mayor's wife heard and ran to the Town Hall, and we used the town's flags. Problem solved. Yikes. They probably won't ask us back next year!

But here we go...we were spot number 1. We started the whole parade off! Way cool.

That's Nicky on the left, followed by Patrick, Eli, Jeffery, Jesse, and Matt. I jumped in behind them after taking this picture, so I got to be in the parade, too!

I loved this old-time bicycle. I don't know how he does it!

Um...yeah. Santa, you need to cover those legs up. Not pretty.

This little pooch couldn't keep her tongue in! Such a cutie...loved the lacy collar!

I didn't know Bert and Ernie were so...feminine. Look at the skinny legs!

This was a float for the local dance studio...they had their final Christmas production today after the parade. Beautiful costumes! Lovd the snowman.

Here comes our high school marching band! We were calling out to all of our friends in the band, trying to distract them. They were coordinated enough to keep playing AND acknowledge us! Nice.

The Purple Hat Society! When I am old I shall wear purple...well, I wear it know, so what does that make me? (Don't say it.)

Loved the parasol!

This poor dog...bells around his ankles, too! What a good sport!

Santa Chicken???? That's a new one. Representing one of our local chicken restaurants.

Santa wants a hog for Christmas!

This one was on the naughty list. He only got an orange scooter.

Our local theater group is performing "A Christmas Carol". Here are a couple of the actors. Loved the costuming!

Papa's in the house! Papa John's sent a slice of pizza to the parade. No free samples or coupons, though.

The penguin is a mascot of a cute little ice cream shop right on the Bay. He was very friendly.

Mrs. Claus arrived in style behind a John Deere tractor.

She was travelling alone...Santa was already set up at his station, hearing wish lists from all the good little boys and girls. Disappointing that he wasn't in the parade, though. It's not a parade without Santa. I think he was in it, but got off at the grandstand to set up. We were past there, so we didn't get to see him. Bummer.

Here are the boys Bayside...one had already left, but here are the others. Nice view.

The North Beach Christmas tree. Beautiful, and right on the Bay. Wow.

And of course, the Reason for the Season. This cute manger was set up for kids to dress up and have their pictures taken with various manger animals.

Merry Christmas! I just love the season.

A Little Christmas Crafting

2010-11-30T21:23:00.001-05:00

I made the easiest project today. I actually made 4 of them in 10 minutes.

Feather boa trees!

It was so easy...I bought large styrofoam cones and feather boas at Michael's. Insert a straight pin into the rope at one end and attach to the top of the cone. Wind the boa around to the bottom, and insert another straight pin into the end rope and attach to the bottom of the cone. Voila! A cool Christmas tree.

Then I made 2 white ones. I like the colored ones better, but I think the white ones would have been cool with gold thread running through.

I'm taking the 2 multi-colored ones to school. I think the kids will like them. I know I do. And such a piece of cake to make!

"Tis the Season

2010-11-28T16:56:00.000-05:00

Ah, I love the holidays. I officially ushered in the Christmas season by attending our county's annual Festival of Trees, to benefit our local Hospice House.

Uh, oh...don't tell Mrs. Claus, but it looks like Santa is stepping out on her!

God Bless America!

One last gasp of fall...I love the colors in this tree.

Grandma had a tree showing all her cooking skills.

CANDY! Yum...

Ah, the Toy Story tree. One of my favorite movies!

Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings. There were lots of bells on this tree!

This tree was my favorite. I loved the blue, and the tree had a light dusting of snow. It was just beautiful!

Good grief, it's a Charlie Brown Christmas tree!

Aw, they put me on the tree! :)

My favorite color---a tree all in purple!

A wonderful message for the season and for life...Just Celebrate.

And my favorite Christmas picture of the day...

Our Christmas card picture for 2010. The boys in their Iowa shirts and the dogs shivering in the cold.

Bring on Christmas!

Evil!

2010-11-27T21:54:00.001-05:00

We drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a late Thanksgiving with them. As is our custom, we stopped at Sonic in Bridgeville, Delaware to get our fix. This nastiness greeted us as we headed in to the facilities....

I've never actually seen a live black widow. Only dead ones. This was so creepy.

Several other people lined up behind me to take pictures. I guess I'm not the only one that's never seen a live black widow.

Ick.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T21:19:00.000-05:00

I am thankful for...

my family all being together this week.

good food.

good times.

5 days off!

Here's my plate at dinner...turkey, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, green beans, and gravy. Yummy.

It was followed by the ever-famous poppy-seed cake. It didn't look so hot this year, but it was still extremely tasty.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Trick or Treat!

2010-11-01T21:35:00.000-04:00

I love Halloween.

Here's Nicky on his way to a Halloween party last night...

He tricked me in this get-up as Moe the Bartender from The Simpsons...he didn't have a treat for me! :)

Moving on through the holidays...tis the season!!!

A Month's Worth of Life

2010-10-30T11:49:00.000-04:00

It's been a crazy month. Once I was officially hired full-time by the school, suddenly I was required to provide lesson plans, reports, all sorts of stuff! I have been barely keeping my head above water...at school. Don't even ask about the house. Yikes.

So in a nutshell, here's been my month...

Along with all the schoolwork, I also had to prepare for one of our troop's bi-annual Courts of Honor. I am the awards chair and have to bag up all the awards the Scouts earn. Since they went to summer camp, the boys earned 13 rank advancements and 142 merit badges.

After my classes finished the sewing unit, all but the 8th graders began the cooking section. We just finished Friday...I get a whole new group of kids on Monday. We made smoothies and a chocolate cake. Here is one of the more creative ones after they finished decorating:

Nicky and I walked/jogged a 5K this morning to benefit the middle school PTSA and the high school cross-country team. We did pretty well, although it looked like we came in toward the back because a lot of the walkers quit halfway through. Weenies. Here we are after the race, leaning against the cross country coach's car:

We were whipped! It's very different doing a 5K on a street and doing one on grass, gravel, through the woods...But it was fun and for a couple of good causes. Maybe my class will get a SmartBoard out of this fundraiser. Nah.....

The topper happened earlier in the month. Our school has Students of the Month, voted by their teachers. There is also Staff Member of the month, one voted by the students and 1 voted by the teachers. Guess who won from the staff nominations?

Yep, there it is, in my room. Very humbling. I'm sure this was given to me as a token of appreciation for my years of subbing for all the staff members. But it's still cool. We just had another vote for October, so this will be leaving me. But I'll always know...And now I have a lot to live up to.

This teaching thing is pretty cool.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2010-10-02T11:21:00.008-04:00

Today I did another 5K--this time for the local hospital's Breast Cancer Research unit. With Eric out of town and Nicky being a Saturday slug, I did this one alone. Same place as the Pet Day one...down in Solomon's Island.

I didn't register in advance for this one, so I got there at 7AM to register and be sure I got my shirt. I then had an hour and a half to kill. Several sponsors had booths set up, so I browsed the pamphlets.

At 8AM one of the sponsors, World Gym (of which we are all members) did a 10-minute warmup for the race. Everyone was looking pretty goofy, but having a good time.

Even the frog mascot from one of our local radio stations got into the action!

And we're off! Right on time, too.

Believe it or not, this is the view from someone's front yard, at just over the 1 mile mark. I would love to wake up to this every day.

Here's a lovely shot of the Chesapeake Bay with the sun shining on the water. Glorious.

Our route took us right past one of Solomon's institutions--The Tiki Bar. There were people already there! (I hope just getting the place ready to open for lunch.)

I did OK this race...46:33, which is a minute and a half off my regular time. I'm not a runner...just walked with occasional burst of jogging, so I was pleased with this time. I'll get better as I go.

Here I am in my official race shirt:

And my very cool pink shoelaces:

I walked/jogged this one in honor of my mom, who was a 14-year breast cancer survivor before pneumonia took her away from me. This was for you, Ma.

Fall Equinox??? Not Yet...

2010-09-19T18:57:00.004-04:00

I went to a sunrise Yoga class this morning by the Chesapeake Bay. It was to celebrate the arrival of the fall equinox. Which really isn't until Wednesday. But no one would have been able to come on Wednesday at sunrise, so we celebrated today. It's OK...the sooner fall gets here, the better!

Here we are about 5 minutes before sunrise.

The instructor, Beth, is getting the class ready for our "practice".

There were maybe 50 or so of use there, braving the 56 degrees and very damp boardwalk. We needed a beach towel under our mats to absorb the moisture so we wouldn't slip away!

Here it comes...the sunrise...

I can't believe I caught a gull flying right over the sun.

Happy Fall, y'all, in anticipation of Wednesday!

For All the Pets Out There

2010-09-18T23:54:00.002-04:00

Nicky, Eric and I did an official 5K today...to benefit the local Humane Society. We went to Solomons Island, which isn't really an island, but that's beside the point. :)

Here are my boys...I had number 289.

And the runners are off! We were walkers, so we helped bring up the rear.

The 5K mascot was there to see us off...I didn't think I'd ever get a picture because every time I approached, she took her dadgum head off!!!

This is the evil Thomas Johnson Bridge...I won't drive over this one. Evil. Two lanes, VERY narrow, and VERY high. Evil. This is where the Patuxent River meets the Chesapeake Bay. Pretty. But evil.

Eric and Nicky are just ahead of me here...I led for most of the route, but fell behind here to take a few pictures.

Like this one of the Chesapeake. Just beautiful at this time of morning.

No pictures of the finish line, since we all decided to run across it. But we finished in about 45 minutes, which isn't too bad, considering how many times I stopped to take pictures.

Here are Nicky and me in our official 5K T shirts after we finished.

And Eric and me.

It was fun---a very good turnout. I look forward to the next one...maybe someday I'll actually run one of these instead of walk!

Crafts and Memorials

2010-09-11T22:41:00.005-04:00

Nicky and I headed to the first craft show of the season today. We went to Leonardtown, a small town in the neighboring county about 35 miles from here.

The show wasn't all that big--about 15 booths, and several of those were party-type items: Silpada, Pampered Chef, etc. To me, that's not craft show material...if you can have a party at your house and buy this stuff, it's not a craft. But that's just me.

I didn't buy anything, but I did donate to the Greyhound Rescue League.

Look at this handsome guy.

Nicky wanted to bring him home, but I didn't think Bingo and Muffin would be all that thrilled.

The downtown area had several nice memorials for those who had given their lives in war. This one covered WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf Wars.

The last one was all WWI...both sides were covered with names.

This one sparked quite the discussion...you may not be able to see the names, but the right side was labelled "White" and the names on the left "Colored". Nicky had never seen anything like that before. Quite eye-opening for him. He's never known intolerance like that. Lucky him.

Nice to remember those who gave their lives for our country, while we were also thinking of others who gave their lives 9 years ago today, however unintentionally. Never forget.

Cake Pops and Cake Bites

2010-09-07T21:47:00.006-04:00

Our Scout Commissioner Corps, of which I am a member, is having a Bake Sale for Buckles tomorrow night at our monthly Roundtable. Our District provides a lovely Eagle Scout belt buckle for all Scouts making Eagle Scout. My JJ was the recipient of one of these buckles at hius Court of Honor in March. I chose to make cake pops, from the website of the fabulous Bakerella.

Mine did not turn out as fabulously as hers did. I ended up making cake bites, served in truffle cups. Still tasty, just not as cute.

I've attached the link above to her blog and the recipe. Here are the ingredients I used:

I ended up not using the chocolate candy melts...just the colored ones. I went with blue melts with yellow sugar, and yellow melts with blue sugar, in honor of Cub Scouting. (Just couldn't come up with an acceptable sugar color to go with green.)

This is the devil's food batter--by far the better of the two, in my opinion.

And the yellow cake mix.

I rolled the batter into balls about 1 1/2 inches across, and chilled on a cookie sheet. Actually stuck them in the freezer, because the colder they are, the easier they are to dip.

I was planning to make these as Cake Pops, so I stuck a lollipop stick in each ball before I froze them. After dipping them in the melted candy melts, I dipped them in the colored sugar and placed on a foil-wrapped styrofoam block.

The chocolate ones are above, and the yellow ones below.

One of Bakerella's favorite picture poses!

Mine's a tad out of focus. Oh, well.

Once they were dry, I attempted to cover the pops with the treat bags, but they were too small. Plan B--I had some mini-muffin cups, and put the cake balls in them.

I think it works. Hope they sell out, because I can't have these back in the house...they are...WOW!!! So sweet!!!!

Enjoy browsing Bakerella's blog...so many great ideas, so little time!

It's Been A While...

2010-09-06T15:03:00.007-04:00

A lot has happened in the last few weeks since I've posted some pictures. We left on August 18th to start our way across the country to take JJ to college. We spent a couple of days in Chicago, as we did last year when we visited Iowa.

Such a pretty city.

We took in a show...The Second City, which has started the careers of such greats as John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Steve Carell, to name but a few.

It was a tad R-rated, but luckily the kids are older. It was very funny and I could see any of the actors on Saturday Night Live.

We took in a Cubs game...none of us had ever been to Wrigley Field. It was awesome.

The Cubs played the Braves that day, which was a bonus for me! And the Braves even won!

We attended a book signing at a downtown Border's for Dave Mustaine, the lead singer of Megadeth (and formerly of Metallica, but that was a whole 'nuther ugly story..sssshhhh). JJ bought his book and wanted it autographed. After a 1/2 hour wait (with hundreds behind us) JJ finally got to get his autograph and even had a short conversation with Dave.

The day we left Chicago we happened upon a film set...Transformers 3 was filming some helicopter scenes downtown, and closed the bridges so the copter could fly right over the river.

Looks almost like it's posing for me!

We got the the university around supper time and began the long process of unloading the car and getting the dorm room set up.

Lofts are great, but what a pain to make up!

A week or so before we left I made JJ a fleece blanket with Iowa fleece that I ordered from joann.com.

I think he liked it...he turned the air conditioner WAY down and slept with his new blankie.

We went back the next morning and made sure he had everything he needed. Got this shot right outside his dorm.

And on Sunday, August 22nd, my nest became a little emptier. I left my baby almost a thousand miles away and began the long journey home.

I miss my boy, but he's doing very well at school. Making friends, attempting to study, eating at the all-you-can-eat dining hall.

He'll be home for Thanksgiving. Until then...

Odds and Ends

2010-08-16T20:23:00.003-04:00

I saw some odd things last weekend on my jaunt down south.

At The Shed in Ocean Springs, we saw these wind chimes...made from pork ribs. Weird. But cool.

At Flounders in Pensacola Beach, this sign was hanging over the entrance. I guess they wanted to make sure no customers left that couldn't find a spot right in front!

And this one, also in Pensacola Beach:

Yes, it's a house. Yes, it looks like a UFO. and yes, if you look closely at the upper windows, you will see an alien looking out at you.

Weird. But fun! Gotta love the beach!

Beach Life

2010-08-15T23:57:00.001-04:00

I can't believe it's been a week since I left the beach in Pensacola. So much craziness of real life...and it was so relaxing to just stare at the Gulf of Mexico and listen to the waves.

Looking at this beach, it's hard to believe it's a roasting hot Saturday in August...there's not that many people here. This is why CNN was doing a story here...the sharp decine in tourism thanks to the oil spill.

Here's our intrepid reporter, Reynolds Wolf, reporting on his story of the hour...I was laying on the beach when I took this picture.

It was a nice day...very hot.

We ate supper across the street from our hotel at Flounders...pretty good.

We had to make a run for it after supper because this rolled in...

There was some serious lightning and wind with this one! Thankfully nothing serious.

OK...one more for the road!

Ah.............

Second Chances

2010-08-14T23:17:00.002-04:00

Yesterday Nicky and I, along with members of our Boy Scout troop, helped out with our American Legion's Operation Second Chance, dedicated to those servicemen and women who have been injured in service to their country. They got to go fishing on the Chesapeake Bay, then came to the Legion for a barbeque, and finished the night at a local spa/hotel.

Our troop helped out with the barbeque, shuttling water and helping set the tables. There were so many other volunteers for this event there wasn't a whole lot for the boys to do. They had games they let the boys "test out" such as Corn Hole and horseshoes. There was also a dunk tank. The boys had a great time attempting to dunk the obnoxioud boy inside. That guy did a great job getting them riled up! Called them Girl Scouts. :) Then a Girl Scout (former) got up there and showed them how it was done. Yep--I actually dunked the guy--I didn't know I could throw a baseball like that! Somewhere there is a video of me actually accomplishing this feat...but I haven't seen it yet.

Here is one of the boys trying his best:

The Scouts waiting for the vets to arrive:

Here they come with police escort:

The vets arrived in style on one of our local school buses...

Some of our boys welcoming them with waving flags (Nicky is in the middle):

They're ready for some food and games...and lots of good music courtesy of an excellent DJ...

After everyone was settled Nicky and I challenged each other in a game of Corn Hole:

Neither of us won...we didn't come anywhere close!

I think this banner said it all:

Thank you all...I hope you enjoyed your well-deserved day.

Barbeque and the Blues

2010-08-13T10:45:00.005-04:00

One week ago Eric and I were eating some of the best barbeque. On our drive from New Orleans to Pensacola we stopped in Ocean Springs, Mississippi to eat at The Shed.

It's on the grounds of a campground. Interesting. It's not much to look at...just an old tin...well, shed.

This is the outdoor eating area...and bar.

I was hungry and forgot to take a picture of the entire pate, which consisted of potato salad, baked beans, a roll, and beef brisket (they were out of pork, darn it all). But this is the beef...man, it was good!

While we ate outside at the picnic tables, we were entertained bya blues singer named Walter, Jr.

He was very good...he had 6 CDs for sale, so he's been at this for a good while. We enjoyed his singer and guitar playing for several songs before we hot the road again.

Eric ate here again a few days ago with his crew...no fair eating there without me! It was good eatin'!

French Quarter Sights

2010-08-12T23:10:00.002-04:00

There were many very...interesting sights in New Orleans' French Quarter. Here are a few:

I bought a couple of cute Christmas ornaments in a very nice Christmas store in the Quarter. Lots of Christmas items!!!!!!! This tree was in the front window:

It's a Very Mardi Gras Christmas!

I loved this gold statue of Joan of Arc...

And of course, the infamous Bourbon Street:

There are many strip clubs on this street, open even in the daytime, with the employees in the doorway enticing one to enter. I'm glad my boys weren't with me...they would have gotten an eyeful!

This is one of the clubs...no girls seen here, though.

I'm sure it is MUCH livelier at night! But Friday evening we were on our way to Pensacola. Beach, here I come!

Jackson Square

2010-08-11T23:07:00.006-04:00

While tooling around New Orleans Eric and I walked through Jackson Square, a very peaceful little park in the heart of the French Quarter, near the Mississippi River.

Here is the namesake of the park, President Andrew Jackson.

I thought this fountain was so pretty.

The church behind President Jackson is St. Louis Church: may be St. Louis Cathedral. It didn't say...just the name. I thought this shot was so cool.

A small oasis in the chaos of the French Quarter.

My Camera's Stylin'

2010-08-10T21:56:00.003-04:00

We interrupt vacation photos for a very important update...

Today I got a lovely gift in the mail. Angela from Country Scrap Quilts, one of my favorite blogs, sent me a beautiful camera case that she sewed.

Isn't it pretty?

The striped lining provides a nice contrast to the print...

The straps can go on your belt to keep the camera safe and easily accessible. PLus there's a pocket on the back, too!

Thanks, Angela!!!!! Be sure and check out her blog for great ideas and to see her wonderful work! She's very talented!

A Star is Born...

2010-08-09T21:54:00.003-04:00

...Not!

While Eric and I were walking down Bourbon Street last Friday, we popped into a bar called Treasure Isle. There was a live band playing that sounded good, so we stopped in for a drink and some music. We were the only ones there.

One of the musicians put on a tin washboard and scraped spoons down it and walked to the doors to try and entice customers in. After walking over to us at the bar, he pulled me along with him and took me to the stage area where he put the washboard on me and handed me the spoons. I played with the band through their 4 song medley of Johnny Cash hits...which I know all of so I sang along, too!

Here's a blurry pic taken by Eric on his cell phone...

He took video, too, but unfortunately the phone wouldn't let him send that large a file. Once he edits it down, he'll send it to me and I'll maybe post it.

Yes...I'm with the band. :) They're pretty good, too!

New Orleans...Briefly

2010-08-08T21:25:00.007-04:00

Eric has been in New Orleans for the last 2 weeks...8 weeks out of the last 3 months. He invited me down to spend the weekend in the Big Easy...just me. I left the kids at home all weekend. It was weird, but I knew they were old enough to stay alone, and responsible enough. I was still worried and nervous, but VERY frequent calls home helped.

I got off the plane early Friday morning and found out that after all this time in New Orleans, CNN was sending Eric to Pensacola, Florida. Of course they were. With me having a return ticket from New Orleans home. Of course. So we took advantage of the few hours there and crammed as much in as we could.

First we ate lunch at Mother's.

It was pretty yummy. Lots of others thought so, too. They were really busy, even at 11 in the morning.

I decided to have the red beans and rice, with their "world's best ham". I don't know if it was the best, but it was really good.

We then started walking, getting as much in as we could. I'll post on some of the sites in more detail later. For now...here's the mighty Mississip.

Should be the muddy Mississip. Wow, this river's dirty!

A walk down Bourbon street proved eventful.

But more on that later...

Summer Rain...Summer Storms

2010-08-05T22:43:00.004-04:00

Wow, what an evening! We had some ugly storms blow through earlier. We were under a tornado warning for a while, but I think we dodged that bullet.

Here she comes...

60 mile per hour winds and all...

Lots of trees down around DC...this was one of my neighbors up the street. We lost a huge tree at our neighborhood entrance, blocking the way in. Thankfully someone went up and removed most of it.

Yikes. Hope we don't see the likes of that again anytime soon.

Aw, Baby Stuff!

2010-08-03T23:24:00.004-04:00

I finally finished a baby afghan tonight that I began Spring 2009. Several people who could have received the afghan have had their babies and they are all now walking. So now I'll give this to my new next-door neighbor, who is expecting her first child in mid-September.

The year's work:

Shades of sherbet!!!

I'm glad that's done. I have another afghan I've been working on since last summer...let's see how long it takes me to finsh THAT one!

Pet Love

2010-08-02T23:43:00.003-04:00

The furry members of our household have been particularly cute lately.

Muffin just wants to be loved!

Bingo is sitting on a barstool at the kitchen island, perhaps waiting for a bite? He's going to be waiting a while!

One of Kiki's favorite resting places is on a bed pillow...doesn't matter whose bed. In this case, she's resting on Nicky's pillow. (You can tell by the red sheets, and the unmade bed.)

Just a cute group!

A Working Desk...Yet Again

2010-08-01T20:45:00.006-04:00

I don't know why I find it so difficult to keep my desk and filing cabinet cleaned off. Maybe I don't have a routine for keeping the office up, maybe I'm just lazy. Who knows? In any event, every 6 months or so I get disgusted with the state of affairs in the office area and do a big purge. That came this last week. I cleaned the computer area, the armoire where we keep our paper and disks, the game shelves, and the desk. I left the worst for last...the desk hadn't seen a good cleaning in a while, and had papers needing to be filed from March and forward. Disgraceful.

Yeah, like I said...disgraceful.

So after 3 days of sorting, filing, reorganizing, trashing, etc. here is the finished result:

Now...how long will it stay like this?

The End of Christmas in July

2010-07-31T14:36:00.004-04:00

Today is the last day of Christmas in July. It's only fitting that I show my Christmas in July craft, all finished up.

I finally got the supplies together and framed the Nativity cross stitch I finished a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

Now...what to do next?

Wish I Had a Parade for MY Birthday!

2010-07-25T20:40:00.007-04:00

The kids and I and a number of our Boy Scout troop members walked in the Boy Scout Centennial Parade today in Washington. DC only allows 4 parades a year: the 4th of July, Christmas, St. Patrick's Day, and the Cherry Blossom Festival. This year, however, a special exemption was made to celebrate the 100th birthday of Boy Scouts, and we got a parade. It was blasted hot again...over 100 when we got there and I'm sure even hotter by the time we began marching, but it was worth it just to be involved with something cool like this. The really good parade pictures are being e-mailed to me, as I was marching and didn't get many except of the Scouts preparing, but here's a sampling of the views today:

The boys relaxing while we are being registered for the parade...we are in front of the National Archives building.

JJ and Nicky are getting in formation with the rest of the troop and others in our group to begin marching. All the Scouts marching were separated into decades, representing each 10 years of Scouting. We were the 80s. Rock on. :)

We were able to see this float, which led off the parade. Very nice.

Here's JJ and one of our adult leaders in the parade. Nicky was in front of me, so I could only see his back.

I didn't have a good shot of the Capitol from our vantage point, but I did snag this great shot of the Washington Monument from the parade route.

Yep...Teddy's back! One of the Presidents from the Washington Nationals Presidents' Race was in the parade. Appropriate since President Teddy Roosevelt approved and presided over the very first Boy Scout parade, in 1911.

Our part over, the troop takes a much-deserved break with ice cream and water while we watch the rest of the parade.

Hey, it's Oscar the Grouch! On loan from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

This is the Eagle float, depicting the ultimate of Boy Scout awards.

And it wouldn't be a parade without...

...yep, Santa Claus! Walking with the Eagle Scouts. (Did you know that Santa was an Eagle Scout? Apparently he is.) And how appropriate, Santa on the official Christmas in July date! He'd better go rest up...he's on in 5 months!

Well, it wouldn't be an official Scout activity without:

Thunderstorms! Nicky and one of our adult leaders bring up the rear in a mad dash to get to the Metro station before the storm hits. We barely made it before the rain, but the wind helped blow us along...we went through a dust storm on the Mall and 60 mile per hour winds. Luckily the storm hit as we were underground on the train, and it was over by the time we got to our station.

What a privilege to be involved in this once-in-a-lifetime celebration of Boy Socuting's 100 birthday. Happy Birthday and here's to many, many more!

Is This Hell?

2010-07-24T22:00:00.004-04:00

No...it's Maryland.

The picture is not great, as it was taken with my cell phone (while I was driving...ssshhhh) but it speaks for itself anyway. 107 on the road...the official high at Reagan National Airport was 101, smashing a record of 96 set back in 1987.

It was 105 in my little hamlet.

Feeling hot, hot, hot!

Sew What!

2010-07-23T22:46:00.004-04:00

When I was cleaning my craft room a few weeks ago, the only eyesore in the room was the pile of mending on the table.

I got on a tear tonight and got it all done.

Patches pulled off of 3 Scout shirts, a patch sewn on another Scout shirt, buttons replaced on two items, and 4 rips repaired. It only took a little over an hour to do all of that. Some of these items had been around for years!

A couple of my favorites:

JJ originally had this shirt, and it passed to Nicky. They've both loved it.

I know, I know...

This is a vest I made about 15 years ago for Christmas. I was trying to learn to sew. I thinm it came out OK. It ripped in the middle of the back about 10 years ago and I haven't worn it since. I thought it was a goner. But I tried to piece the edges together with a zigzag stitch, and you can barely tell where the rip was!

I love the fabric...it's a Susan Winget design.

Now here's the table:

Finally...a clean craft room! And more clothes to wear!

The Holy Trio...Finished!

2010-07-20T23:57:00.005-04:00

I've been working quite a bit the last few days on the Nativity cross stitch. Tonight I finished the last of the stitching...Baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph:

Forgive the hoop rings...I'll iron tomorrow.

Now I need to get to Michael's to get the board for mounting; then I can frame.

I can't wait...I'm beginning to get the Christmas spirit...in July!

We All Scream for Ice Cream

2010-07-18T21:29:00.002-04:00

Today is National Ice Cream Day.

Here's mine...

Did you have yours today? There's still time!

Lizard!!!!!!!

2010-07-17T23:45:00.002-04:00

I'm not a big fan of lizards, gekkos, whatever you want to call them. But this little guy caught my eye earlier today...

It's just a baby! Now his mama...I've seen her and...ew. I really am not crazy about lizards. But I do like the blue tail!

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

2010-07-16T22:28:00.002-04:00

Nicky's caught in the crossfire!

Bingo's just asking for trouble, sniffing at Kiki like that. Luckily she just ran away, and Nicky emerged unscathed.

He may not be so lucky next time!

A Star is Born

2010-07-15T23:47:00.000-04:00

My Nativity is coming right along. After a hiccup where I had to remove nearly half the blue portion (who knew there was a light blue and a VERY light blue in the kit? Guess I didn't read far enough--I ended up with both colors used) the star for the Nativity is done.

Now for the part that will take the longest--the 3 principle figures. And me with no more metallic gold thread. Guess I need to run to Michael's...oh, woe is me! :)

Great Chicago Food Experience

2010-07-14T21:37:00.003-04:00

Eric and JJ are in Chicago, getting ready to come home tomorrow after a 2 day orientation at the University of Iowa. Eric very kindly (insert heavy sarcasm here) sent along these photos of their gastric success in the Windy City today.

They ate lunch at a restaurant whose name escapes me at present, but all the burgers are named after heavy metal bands, with heavy metal music playing. This is the "Megadeath" after the band Megadeth.

Eric said it was "awesome". Or words to that effect. I'm liking the fries off to the side!

Supper was at Lou Malnati's. Here is JJ with his creation, the deep dish cheese pizza. (No adventure among our kids!)

We'll all be there in August when we take JJ to college, spending a couple of days in Chi-Town. Can't wait to see what wonderful food I can find then!

I Scream, You Scream

2010-07-13T22:59:00.004-04:00

This is my new favorite ice cream:

Ooh, it's so good! And creamy. Doesn't taste fat free to me.

This is slightly less than a serving...1/2 a cup.

Well, you know I had at least 3 or 4 servings! But it's fat free, right?? So it doesn't count. :)

I'll Take a Window Seat, Please

2010-07-12T23:36:00.003-04:00

Bingo got to ride to the store earlier.

Such a good boy. He's very interested in the scenery!

Oh, No! Not Another One!

2010-07-11T22:01:00.002-04:00

Arg!

Are you kidding me?

Great...another one of my kids wanting to drive.

Actually, Nicky did very well today. I took him to the high school parking lot...not a whole lot going on there this time of year...and on a Sunday to boot. He enjoyed himself and I think felt rather grown-up.

Me?

I'm just glad we were in a parking lot! But yeah, he did great!

I just don't know if I'm ready for this. Again.

Get Your Red On!

2010-07-10T22:55:00.005-04:00

I attended my very first Washington Nationals game tonight.

The Nats played the San Francisco Giants and were doing really well. Here's Ryan Zimmerman up to bat in the 2nd inning:

Zimmerman on the Jumbotron:

At some point during the games, the Presidents' Race is run. 4 guys in Presidents' costumes run around the field. Thomas Jefferson, George Washington (who both look oddly alike), Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.

And George wins!

Teddy didn't like coming in second and tackled George. The crowd went wild!

Here's one of my favorite sights at the game: at the base of our seats was this sign...

I know they mean foul balls, but with the Nats losing tonight 10-5, it could be rotten tomatoes. Duck!

It was great fun, and a nice cool evening after all these 100+ days!

Baa, Baa, Stitched Sheep

2010-07-09T22:25:00.003-04:00

I took today off from cleaning and organizing because I've done so much over the last couple of weeks I deserved a break. :) I spent a good portion of the day cross stitching and got the little sheep done for my Nativity.

It's a little blurry (the flash wouldn't come on) but here it is:

Next up...the star over the manger. I may actually get this done before the end of the month!

The Craft Room is No Longer a Crap Room!

2010-07-08T19:52:00.005-04:00

I finally finished putting the craft room back to a working craft room and not a collection area for the cedar closet cleanout and whatever else happened along.

Here's what it was like in the beginning of the cedar closet cleanout:

The horrendous and totally useless table...

My fabric and yarn stash...inaccessible...

Access to the closet partially blocked and a hazard...

Now...

Ah...I can walk again!

I'm getting inspired by my cleared craft table!

I cleared my bookshelf and have room to grow. The picture above is one of my favorites; my granddaddy gave it to me when I was a baby. It's the guardian angel watching over the little kids print...love it.

This is my doll collection...started by my dad when he was stationed in VietNam so many years ago. My Mrs. Beasley doll has a place of honor here, minus her glasses. (Thanks a lot, Billy!)

But wait!

What's this mess?

Ugh...it's all the mending I found when I cleaned everything up!

Guess I still have some work to do!

Christmas in July Angel

2010-07-07T22:53:00.004-04:00

A couple of days ago I started on that Nativity cross stitch kit I found last week. I finished the angel tonight.

The angel--and sheep--are stitched on plastic canvas, and the rest on Aida fabric.

I love how backstitching the design brings it to life. I can't wait to start the sheep tomorrow. Maybe by the end of Christmas in July this project will be finished!

Stylish Organization?

2010-07-06T23:14:00.003-04:00

In the course of my massive cleanout of the cedar closet last week, I went shopping at one of my favorite stores, the Container Store, for archive boxes for all the pictures. While there, I found the clothes hangers. Pretty colors! I bought 3 large boxes: red, purple, and green.

Nicky got the red hangers, and there were enough left over for the hall closet and the basement. And STILL some left. No pictures of Nicky's closet as it's not fit for photographing. But that's a project for another day.

I gave the green hangers to Eric, and I of course got the purple hangers.

Notice how many hangers are crammed into Eric's side of the closet, and how roomy my side is?

Somebody needs the declutter fairy!

Flowers and Critters and Memories

2010-07-05T22:16:00.003-04:00

My Gerbera daisies from last week were on their last legs. So on my trip to the grocery store this morning I picked up some more flowers.

The kitchen table...the Gerberas from last week were still OK, so I left them, and added sunflowers.

The dining room...a lovely bouquet with a variety of flowers...love the orange daisies.

JJ walked Bingo earlier and saw this critter come out of the neighbor's yard...

The sun was still out, so I was a little surprised to see a raccoon in the daylight!

I've been thinking of my dad a lot today. It's been 8 years today that he passed away. It's so hard to believe that he--and my mom--have been gone that long. In my cleaning of the cedar closet over the past week, I've found a large number of pictures of my family over the years, and here is one of my favorites.

Pre-Billy, this was taken by a professional photographer--in our living room! Only in 1968 would you find a photographer who makes house calls!

I still miss you, Pop. Every day.

Happy Independence Day!

2010-07-04T22:14:00.003-04:00

Another Fourth of July has come and gone. With Eric out of town and the kids not into barbeque, it was just any other day here. I did get to Joann Fabrics and Michael's and AC Moore. I didn't buy anything, but it was nice.

I worked a little more in the craft room, but there's not a noticable difference. I did find the other day a cross stitch project that I thought had been donated years ago. I was thrilled to find it! It's a Nativity scene with a wooden frame. I bought 2 and made 1 for my friend Robin, and planned to make the other for myself. In the course of moving to Maryland 8 years ago, I thought the kit was donated. Nope...just buried in an unopened box.

I couldn't get the camera to focus, but this is a rough image of what the Nativity will look like:

I think I'll finish this holiday up right...stitching!

Craft Room--Ugh!

2010-07-03T22:26:00.005-04:00

A lot of stuff from the cedar closet came out to the craft room, which is between the closet and the basement. A LOT of stuff.

I apparently didn't take a picture of all the stuff in the craft room after the closet threw up on it, but here's a before picture with the big screen TV in there:

The craft table...full of those Scout records that need to be filed (sssshhhhhh)...and a lot of pictures...

This side doesn't look too bad...it's my storage containers of fabric and crochet thread. Once the closet came out...it was a disaster.

After a couple of hours, the stuff in front was put up and the containers were stacked again, with bags of yarn (afghan projects...some in progress) stacked neatly. The ironing board put against the wall, with the iron in the closet for now.

All the pictures and Scout records have been put away, but there is still a ton of stuff to put away here. Tomorrow.

Lots of stuff under the table, too. The blue basket next to the stuffing is all of Nicky's Cub Scout pictures, waiting to be scrapbooked. Later this summer. Maybe. It's only 4 years late.

Progress! Slow, but sure.

Day 4--Finished! (For the Most Part)

2010-07-02T21:44:00.009-04:00

Hooray!

There are still some loose items that need to go back in the cedar closet, but their home is already established.

I'm so happy! And so tired.

Here is the finished result:

The cardboard box is full of childhood books--some from me and some from my brother. We need to decide what to do with them, whether to save them for our grandchildren, or donate them for use now.

I thought I had taken a picture of this area where many of the boxes and bags were hauled to, but I didn't take one. Here is the area cleared of all of that, save the big screen TV, which will go back in the craft room until we can get it donated. (Anyone want a big screen TV, circa 2002?)

The couch was covered with blankets stacked 4 high and all the hanging clothes. Now there's room for Bingo and Muffin again.

Once the craft room is put to rights again and all its clutter put away in its proper place in the cedar closet, here are the next projects:

This is the Boy Scout troop records box. I haven't done any filing in about 3 years. (Ssshhh, please don't tell the Scoutmaster!)

And this! Ugh. Pictures from 1989 to about 2002, when I went digital. They don't call me a shutterbug for nothing. I really need to identify all of these pictures, eliminate the doubles, and put them in a file box.

Someday.

In any event, Hallelujah for a clean cedar closet!

Day 3--Getting There!

2010-07-01T22:43:00.012-04:00

Wow--so many pictures! So many. Between the shutterbug that I've always been, to all the pictures that my parents had (lots of them from me), to all the pictures from my grandparents (my granddaddy was the shutterbug himself--I must get it from him) to all the OLD OLD pictures from ancestors...

Wow.

I still have a huge container of pictures that I need to identify that I've taken over the 20+ years that I've been married, not counting the 8 years I've been digital. It's considerable. But that's another project.

I got rid of 2 empty boxes and 5 bags of trash/recycling at the dump today. There are 6 bags of donations waiting for JJ to take upstairs and into the garage.

Wow.

Here's the closet now...with a couple of containers added.

There are many blankets on the shelf. I may put them in a container to neaten things up a bit.

On the advice of my friend Brooke from Cleansweepers, I got a container for the many overnight bags and totes. Only the most-often suitcase and my overnight bag is out--laying on top. It looks much better. Thanks, Brooke! Plus, I decided to put the box of Beanie Babies in a container. It looks better without the overstuffed cardboard box.

Here are my archive boxes with all the old pictures. The boxes to the right are old newspapers. I thought I had bought archive boxes big enough for newspapers, but I was wrong. Next time I'm in Rockville, I'm heading back to the Container Store!

A couple of treasures I found today:

My Cabbage Patch kid! This one was special...she was handmade by the mom of my brother's best friend. I don't remember if she ever had a name, since i was in college when I got her. But I loved her so. I just found her shoes tonight, and I'll make sure she gets them on in the morning!

I also found some Thanksgiving fabric with turkeys that I intended to make an apron out of.

Oh, wait...

I already made it! Completely forgotten that I had made this apron already. How sad that's it's been in the closet how many years? I could have been using it every holiday.

I'll be sure and use it this year!

It's slow going, but it's progress!

Day 2--Done! LOTS of Little Stuff

2010-06-30T23:01:00.004-04:00

Arg. Lots of little things done from the cedar closet today. Many, many pictures in the bottoms of containers, in plastic bags, in fire boxes; most of them were from my parents' house.

It's very slow going. But it's going.

Here's the closet now, with some bins put back, after having gone through and gotten rid of stuff that wasn't necessary, like power bills from 1967.

I got all the suitcases and tote bags put back, but they're on the floor. I'm not crazy about that, but I need to figure out what else to do. Also on the upper shelf are bags and boxes with keepsake T-shirts for both kids and me that I "plan" one day to use to make each of us a T-shirt quilt. "Plan" being the operative word here.

Anyone need any Beanie Babies? I went through a collector's phase a number of years ago and have over a hundred, mostly bears. I need to find a place to pass these along to...I don't want to just donate them.

Tomorrow I'll post progress to the areas that have been housing the boxes pulled out...they're still a mess, but the mess is getting smaller!

And once it's daylight, I'll post a pic of a treasure I found tonight...a dollar coin from 1884! My granddaddy was a coin collector, and this was one of several I found tonight. It was the oldest one, and I couldn't get a good picture because of the glare of the flash and turning the flash off made the picture fuzzy. I'll wait for natural light.

Progress! Gotta love it.

Day 1--Complete!

2010-06-29T22:14:00.005-04:00

I got through the first day of the Great Closet Cleanout. Wow! What a mess.

I rehung all the clothes...that I didn't get rid of...on matching red hangers from the Container Store. Very cool. I rewashed all the blankets that were in the floor, and they are now on the shelf.

Here's the pile of stuff I'm getting rid of:

I did got through one bag of stuff from my parents' house that had a lot of old pictures. Here's one of my dad that I don't remember ever seeing before. He's missing a front tooth, so he must have been about 5 or 6.

I also found JJ's Cub Scout patches in a box of his books, magazines, etc. from when we moved from Texas. It had never been opened in 8 years. I needed the patches for his Eagle ceremony back in March. Just a tad late. But at least I found them

I can't wait to see what treasures I find tomorrow!

The Great Cedar Closet Cleanout

2010-06-28T23:16:00.004-04:00

We have lived in our house for 8 years this August. I can say without a doubt that the most abused location in our house is the basement cedar closet. (Well, and maybe the garage.)

The cedar closet is intended, I'm sure, to store out-of-season clothing in a location where the moths can't get to them. It's a really nice closet...except it holds everything but out-of-season clothing.

Gulp...here it is...

I'm so ashamed.

Where's the Clean House team??? Niecy??? Mark??? Trish??? Matt???

It's awful...just stuff piled on top of stuff. Things from my parents' house, things from when the kids were small, Scout stuff, BLANKETS (why we need so many of them I'll never know), SUITCASES AND TOTE BAGS (ditto), old bridemaid's dresses, my wedding gown (that one is staying no matter what)...I even found some old fossilized dog poop on top of an old Target bag (the chihuahua will apparently go potty anywhere).

After a couple of hours of moving everything into the clean basement, here is the cedar closet, ready for its makeover...

The only thing I couldn't move out is the dresser. It's full of old clothing and topped with more crap that needs a home.

Tomorrow...going through boxes and bags. I have a feeling this is going to take a while.

Down By the Bay

2010-06-27T22:00:00.006-04:00

My Nicky has gone for a week to Boy Scout camp. (Sniff)

I'm sure he'll have a wonderful time, but I'll miss him.

I took some thing over to a committee member in our troop who's heading to camp tomorrow...some missing papers that were turned in today, some counselor forms (I'm hoping the dads there will have some extra time and become counselors for merit badges), and I picked up some good headphones for Nicky's iPod. The man lives over near the beach, right near the Chesapeake Bay. I took advantage of my lighter schedule today to take a little walk down to the Bay.

Rain was moving in to the north...getting mighty dark there.

A boater was taking advantage of the nice, though VERY hot weather.

The place I walked to was a memorial for those who've lost their lives in the line of duty. Mostly for the local police, fire, etc. These beautiful flowers grace all sides of the memorial.

We need to take advantage of living 7 miles from the Bay. It's so beautiful here.

Flower Power!

2010-06-25T20:49:00.005-04:00

I love flowers. They make me happy. Since I rarely receive flowers from any of my guys, I usually buy them myself while grocery shopping. Yesterday, I hit the mother lode. Our Safeway had just gotten in a supply of Gerbera daisies. Wow.

I got some for the dining room...white...with a couple of green hydrangeas thrown in...

Some for the kitchen table...one bouquet of yellow and a beautiful bouquet in orange with yellow centers.

Look how beautiful they are!

Nicky made a lovely potted plant holder for a Boy Scout project this week; he earned the Carpentry merit badge, one of the "historical" ones being offered only this year of the Centennial. He painted it his favorite color: red.

So I found a potted Gerbera daisy in bright yellow...the green wrapping detracts from it a bit, so I may remove the paper.

This is in the living room. Right by the TV.

Gotta love flowers!

A Dignified End

2010-06-15T08:40:00.003-04:00

Last night our Boy Scout troop participated in our American Legion's annual Flag Retirement ceremony. This year the ceremony was preceded by the dedication of a new fire pit, built by 2 of our Scouts for their Eagle projects. One Scout built the pit (he was awarded his Eagle Scout badge in February) and the other Scout built the patio surrounding the pit (his Board of Review is next week).

JJ got to participate in the presentation of the flags, even though he technically is no longer a Boy Scout, having turned 18 last week:

Unfortunately, the cermeony had to be indoors, as the heavens opened right as everything was being set up outside. Thankfully, the rain stopped in time for us all to go outside for the retirement.

The troop waits with their flags for disposal ( Nicky is at the back).

Bryan, the potential Eagle Scout who built the patio, helps lay a flag on the grate for retirement.

The camera darkened a bit for this, but here is the fitting end to a good and loyal life.

Our troop and the general public pays their respects.

It's always an honor to participate in this ceremony. God Bless America.

He's Only Just Begun...

2010-06-11T19:04:00.000-04:00

Thursday, June 10th, 2010...2 very special occasions. It's JJ's 18th birthday, and also his graduation day from high school.

Wow. How did we get here?

From this...

...to this.

Wow. My handsome, grown son. Wow.

The happy graduate with his Grandpa, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Lori from St. Louis, and Grandma.

With Uncle B and Aunt Stacie from Georgia.

And with the happy family...brother Nicky, Dad and Mom.

Congratulations, my JJ. And Happy Birthday. This is only the beginning!

Playing Tourist in My Own Town

2010-06-09T21:49:00.002-04:00

My brother B and his wife Stacie are in town for JJ's graduation. Since Stacie has never been to Washington, we decided to take a whole day and see as much of DC as possible. We did a pretty decent job. :) We were exhausted! We must have walked over 10 miles.

Here's my brother and his obligatory pointing-at-something picture, in this case, the US Capitol. What a dufus!

Stacie's holding up some weird sculpture at the Sculpture Garden near the Smithsonian museums.

JJ and Nicky are with Aunt Stacie and Uncle B near the White House. The President was not at home on Tuesday. :)

B and Stacie doing their best impression of the Washington Monument.

The World War II Memorial--it's very awe-inspiring.

The Vietnam Memorial--The Wall. Wow. Too many names here. Way too many names.

I love this view down the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial all the way to the Capitol. Beautiful.

JJ and Nicky pay their respects to Mr. Lincoln.

The Korean War Memorial. The detail in the faces is unreal. It really looks like the soldiers are looking right at you.

We also did the Air and Space, American History, and Natural History museums. It was a great day, but very tiring.

Washington is my kind of town...lots to see and do...and learn from.

For Those Who Served...

2010-05-31T17:16:00.005-04:00

Happy Memorial Day! What a time to reflect on those who have served our country...those who came home, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Saturday JJ and I had the privilege of participating in welcoming the 'Nam Knights, a motorcycle club that is a part of Rolling Thunder. This club comes to DC every Memorial Day and rides their cycles by Arlington Cemetery, across the Memorial Bridge into DC and spends time at the Vietnam Memorial, the Wall, and also at the Law Enforcement Memorial. Then the 'Nam Knights cycle out our way and attends a cookout at the American Legion that sponsors our Boy Scout troop. JJ and I and several members of our troop lined the driveway to the Legion and waved our flags and welcomed the bikers as they arrived.

Fire trucks from 2 local departments sent their ladder trucks out to hold the American flag over the driveway.

Very cool.

Here they come...around 150 bikes this year. Down a bit from last year, I understand, but it was still an overwhelming sight and rather loud. Thus the "Rolling Thunder" name.

I cut off JJ's flag in the picture, but he did a good job. It was very bright out!

Our Scout representatives: Cub Scout Jeffrey, committee member Mike, Jesse, JJ, Bryan, and committee member and Cubmaster Jack.

Thanks to all who serve our country and who have served.

Remembering today...my dad, who served 22 years as active duty in the Army and served 1 tour in Korea and 2 tours of Vietnam; all my uncles, who served various branches of the service for various lengths of time, and my father-in-law (still with us today), who served in the Navy.

We will never forget.

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T17:51:00.002-04:00

These just arrived for me today...

Aren't they beautiful? Since Eric has been in New Orleans for the past nearly 2 weeks, he arranged for these to come for Mother's Day. They were 3 days late, and they ended up coming on Sunday, of all days! Not sure how he arranged that, but they are worth it!

Look at this rose...just beautiful.

Thanks to my wonderful family!

And here's to my wonderful mother-in-law...I'm off to call her now. And I'm missing my mom so much...I wish she could be here.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!

Escape from Alcatraz

2010-05-08T07:19:00.006-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted here...life always seems to get in the way! I still have tons more pictures from vacation and several other events that have happened, so I'll just move on.

After walking the Golden Gate Bridge, we took an afternoon tour of Alcatraz Prison. We took a ferry from San Fran over to the island.

It was a lovely ride...except for the gull who followed creepily overhead. Was it the ghost of a past inmate? Or just a bird looking to leave a present on some poor unsuspecting tourist's head?

The island looms.

This is the processing area, where all the prisoners were showered, searched, and deloused. We just received our headsets for the audio tour here. Thankfully.

One of the cells. Very dark and small. Ew. And nasty. Ew.

I sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come!

This is "THE" cell...the one where the Great Escape happened. From Escape from Alcatraz. See the hole under the sink? They must have small men...that hole was not very big.

The menu board is still posted from the last day the prison was open. It doesn't look too terrible. Not too sure about stewed fruit, though.

We spent a little time in the recreation yard. The gang looks like they're ready for the firing squad, though!

Here's the view form the recreation yard. How awful it must have been to see this every day and not be able to go there. To hear the sounds of city life and be trapped on the island...wow.

It was a very interesting tour. The audio portion made the entire trip. If you go to Alcatraz, be sure and get a headset. The tour is narrated by former employees and inmates of Alcatraz. It was very personal.

Onward to Hollyweird!

I Left My Heart...

2010-04-22T14:33:00.006-04:00

After a lengthy drive up the I-5 (I love how Californians name their highways with "the" in front!) we overnighted in Bakersfield, and arrived Wednesday in San Francisco. It started raining about an hour after we arrived. Then the winds came. Hmmm.....maybe San Fran is trying to tell us something?

We attempted a stroll across the Golden Gate Bridge, but the winds drove us back after we made it about a third of the way across. We were disappointed, but fear not! We have another day.

The rest of Wednesday we relaxed and had a nice workout in the hotel gym.

Thursday dawned bright and sunny, and a tad chilly, but not unbearable. We started off early, and by 9AM we were back at the Golden Gate, determined to cross this sucker on foot!

Yikes.

The boys are working their way up.

We are pretty much at the mid-way point, the highest part of the bridge. As scared as I am of heights, I can't believe I made it this far!

This is sobering. A call box in case you're thinking of jumping. There are several of these.

We made it! Once across, there's no way to get back except walking back across. So we did. This is after the return trip, about 3 1/2 miles total. A nice walk for a nice day!

And one of the coolest things I've ever done.

We've Been Flocked!

2010-04-20T09:31:00.005-04:00

We interrupt this vacation update for a special news bulletin....

We've been flocked!

We woke up this morning to find about 17 pink flamingos in our front yard. Plastic ones, no less. Looks like the 1960's threw up in the yard.

It turns out that this is a fundraiser for our high school's Class of 2012. Someone actually paid to have this done to our yard! For $10 I can have them removed this evening, and for an additional fee, I can pay it forward.

What a clever idea!

Now...who's next??

Legos, Legos, and More Legos!

2010-04-19T23:09:00.002-04:00

Tuesday of Spring Break we checked out of our beautiful hotel and headed south about a half-hour and went to Legoland. The kids were about 8 years too old for the place, but we had a great time. JJ and Nicky have always been huge Lego fans...and still are!

Now...everything you see here that's not human is Lego. Seriously. Except for the rides. :)

Here's Nicky with a Bionicle that he actually owns and has built. He was kind of excited to see a huge model of this guy in the park.

JJ found one of his, too.

Here are JJ, Nicky and me in front of a replica of Einstein. Way cool!

In the middle of the park was a Hall of Fame, with busts of famous individuals. We each picked one to have our pictures taken with.

Eric chose President Lincoln.

We tried to talk JJ into having his picture with Marilyn Monroe, but he chose Winston Churchhill instead.

Nicky liked Governor Ah-nold.

I of course went for the lone Southerner in the bunch. Thank ya...thank ya vury much.

Wait...I thought we were in California! The mini-mall had entire cities constructed of Legos. I took many pictures, but loved this one of the Empire State Building.

Back home so soon? It's hard to see, but there's a tiny Obama Lego at the front entry. Too funny!

JJ talked me into riding this insane ride...it's like the arms of a Bionicle that flings you every which way. It was fun, but ca-razy!

Thanks for a great time!

(The car was real, darn it!)

Next up...San Francisco!

Dana Point...Squirrels and Sunsets

2010-04-17T22:31:00.005-04:00

The second day of Spring Break we spent a lovely day in Dana Point. Beautiful views of the ocean!

Here's the harbor view...

We saw a blond squirrel! We've all seen the gray ones, and we have a black one living in our neighborhood, but we've never seen a blond one!

It's almost camoflauged against the rock.

I've never seen anyone canoeing standing up!

After a few hours at the harbor, we went back to the hotel and spent some time at the pool and the beach.

Yep...that's JJ coming out of the surf! The water was frigid.

We ended the day as before...with a beautiful Pacific sunset.

Day 3...Legoland!

Spring Break...Finally!

2010-04-16T22:20:00.007-04:00

We've been home from Spring Break for 2 weeks now and I'm just now loading the pictures from the camera. It's been a busy couple of weeks here at home, with lots of subbing, lots of Scout work, and lots of cleaning that just didn't get done! (We won't talk about the whole tax thing. Ugh.) So here are a few pics from our fabulous trip to the beautiful state of California.

We left from Baltimore on March 28th.

Here's a beautiful view of the Rocky Mountains from our plane...we had a plane change in Denver. They still have snow!

We landed at John Wayne/Orange County Airport and in our rental car drove to Dana Point, in southern OC. We stayed at a beautiful Ritz-Carleton resort that we NEVER would have been able to stay at if not for Eric's Hilton Hotel points. So thanks, dear!

The lovely Pacific Ocean...from the cliff the hotel was situated on...

The hotel had a beautiful deck where everyone gathered to watch the sunset nightly. Here's Eric enjoying the sunset. And so ended our first night in California. The only thing marring the perfection? Our suitcase ended up in Houston. Thankfully it was delivered to the hotel in the wee hours.

Next up...a lovely day in Dana Point!

Soaring With the Eagle

2010-03-21T22:30:00.004-04:00

JJ is finally, officially an Eagle Scout! We had his Court of Honor today and despite a few late arrivals and several Scouts pulling out of the ceremony at the last minute, it went very well.

Here is JJ being escorted to the podium by his Honor Guard, friends Adam and John.

The candle lighters, led by Nicky and fellow Scouts Stevie and Drew, did a lovely job.

After receiving his award, JJ made a speech thanking everyone for all their hard work and for their support over the years. It was pretty good, considering he winged it!

The proud Scouting family...Dad, JJ, Mom, and Nicky.

Congratulations, JJ! Remember...once an Eagle, always an Eagle.

13 Years Lucky

2010-03-14T21:57:00.005-04:00

Look at this cute kitty:

She will be 13 sometime this week. Since she was a stray, we picked a date and ended up with March 17th. Close enough.

Happy Birthday, Kiki! We're so happy our friend found you in that parking lot. You've been a real blessing!

Cakes, Cakes, and More Cakes!

2010-03-13T11:19:00.005-05:00

I do love Cub Scout Blue and Gold season. Most Packs do a Father/Son Cake Contest as part of the festivities. I am a Unit Commissioner for 3 Cub Scout Packs and I was disappointed that only one this year had the contest. But those cakes were pretty creative!

Here's a sampling:

Um...ew! But very creative.

Anyone ready for lunch? This cheeseburger might satisfy the stomach.

Time for dessert? How about pie? (Yes, this is really a cake!)

The Cub Scouts set a lovely table. What a nice centerpiece!

Now for a little web-surfing after that full meal.

All of these cakes won an award, for various categories. I believe the computer won Judges Choice. All very fabulous and mostly done by the Scout!

I can't wait for next year. The cakes just get better and better!

Snow Bunny...er, Rabbit!

2010-02-20T20:39:00.001-05:00

I guess I shouldn't call Nicky a snow bunny!

We drove to near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania for the troop ski trip to Ski Liberty. What a fun place! Cold, though, and too much snow. :)

I'm not sure why their mascot is a pig and not a bunny, but he was friendly and fun!

Here's my skier in action. Unfortunately, he only made one run and then got sick, so we had to leave and head home...with several stops along the way. But Nicky did a great job, and maybe we'll try again next year!

Getting Back to Normal

2010-02-12T23:33:00.005-05:00

The roads are looking pretty good here...there's still no school because it's taking so long to plow all the parking lots and clear the sidewalks. But business is back to normal in our little burg.

First stop: Safeway. The parking lot was about half cleared and no ice on the road or sidewalks. The shelves were a bit empty and there were no bags...we got our groceries a la BJ's/Costco/Sam's Club: in a box! But they had milk and deli turkey, and that's all I cared about!

Next stop: McDonald's for my fountain Diet Coke. I just love McDonald's Diet Coke! Right before the last blizzard they were out of soda, but that wasn't the case today.

McD's had some killer icicles hanging from the roof:

I'm glad I was in the drive-thru!

Next up: an Alberta clipper that will deposit another 2-5 inches of snow on us Monday night into Tuesday.

Are you kidding me? Jack Frost, it's time to head back to the North Pole: Santa has reported you missing in action!

Digging Out

2010-02-11T16:33:00.004-05:00

We are free once again! It took over an hour for the 3 of us to shovel the driveway, but the cars and driveway are passable.

Nicky hard at work--he got the job of crunching up all the ice left behind by the snow plow.

JJ digging out the cars

Me shoveling the driveway...it was hot work! My coat is off to the side.

We had lots of long and dangerous icicles way up on the 2nd story, so JJ refreshed his baseball skills and tossed snowballs up to knock the bigger icicles down.

Then he had a taste.

Ew...tastes like house!

It Just Won't Stop!

2010-02-10T15:49:00.006-05:00

The snow...it falls and falls and blows around and just doesn't let up. I've never seen anything like it. JJ got out to attempt to shovel and we had 6 1/2 inches...on top of the 24 we got over the weekend.

By the time he shoveled the walkway it was already covered again. I told him to come on inside and forget about it for now.

The snow plows all over the DC area have been told to stop for now, as it's a worthless effort, with all the snow blowing around. Our street hasn't been plowed since last night. Baltimore City and Harford County in the northern section of Maryland have declared it against the law to drive in their jurisdictions unless you are an emergency vehicle. Against the law! Serious stuff here...

This is all the snow on our roof. I pray it's strong enough to hold all that weight.

The snow on this section of the deck railing began falling over from the weight of the snow a few days ago and froze into place. It's really leaning now!

All the inconvenience and hazards and loss of school time--school has already been cancelled the rest of the week and we have used up 7 of the 5 allocated snow days so far. The rest of the week off will put us at 9 nine days, 4 to make up. But still...I just love this picture of the trees in my backyard:

Just beautiful...so peaceful.

Bracing for Blizzard Number Three in One Winter!

2010-02-09T23:57:00.002-05:00

Yep...another blizzard is on the way. It's already snowing, after a couple of hours of freezing rain and sleet. Just enough to make it dangerous.

This happened after the last blizzard, last weekend. Mount Snowza is in my neighbor Vicki's yard, made by the front loader that cleared our cul-de-sac. It's at least 15 feet high. And if you look carefully at the top, you'll see that it's been claimed in the name of the United States of America! :)

What's this going to look like tomorrow? I'm afraid. Very afraid.

Happy Anniversary, Boy Scouting!

2010-02-08T21:57:00.003-05:00

100 years ago today Boy Scouting was born. American William Boyce was assisted by a British Scout while in London and brought Scouting to America in 1910.

Our family has been a Scouting one for 11 years. JJ joined as a Tiger Scout in 1998 and I ended up as his den leader. Nicky followed 3 years later as a Tiger Scout, and I became his den leader upon moving to Maryland in 2002. Now, 11 years later, JJ is an Eagle Scout and Nicky isn't far behind as a Life Scout with 2 merit badges and an Eagle project to go. I gave up my den leader days in 2006 when Nicky became a Boy Scout, but I'm a registered committee member and a Unit Commissioner with our District. Eric has been a committee member for 6 years and volunteers for most campouts when he is in town.

Here is a nice picture of both boys in 2008 after earning the Ad Altare Dei religious emblem for Boy Scouting in the Catholic Church:

Here's to another 100 years in Scouting!

Super Snack

2010-02-07T18:59:00.006-05:00

The Super Bowl is playing on the big screen next to the computer and Eric is shouting at the TV, as is the norm during football season. His chicken wings are marinating, but we've had the first course already: yummy Cajun-style potato skins, right from this week's Weight Watchers Weekly.

You will need:

Cooking spray, 2 large baking potatoes, cooked chicken breast (I used pre-cooked chicken breast strips), part-skim mozzarella cheese, smoky barbeque sauce, and hot sauce.

First, bake 2 large baking potatoes and let them cool completely. Eric bought a bag of small potatoes instead of large baking potatoes, so I just baked 2 small potatoes for 1 large. After they cool, slice in half and remove half of the potato from the skin, reserving the potatoes for another use.

Then mix 1/4 cup barbeque sauce with 1/8 teaspoon hot sauce and spread evenly over the potatoes.

Add 3 tablespoons cubed chicken breast to each potato half (obviously a little less here):

Top with 1 tablespoon mozzarella cheese.

Place in 425 degree oven and bake for 8 minutes, until potatoes are hot and cheese is melted.

The recipe calls for adding parsley after coming out of the oven, but we didn't have any, so I sprinkled a little ground pepper on top.

Yummy and satisfying!

Cajun-Style Potato Skins (from Weight Watchers Weekly and weightwatchers.com)

1 spray cooking spray

2 large baking potatoes, baked, cooled completely, and cut in half lengthwise

1/4 cup smoky barbeque sauce

1/8 teaspoon hot sauce

3/4 cup cooked chicken breast, finely chopped or shredded

1/4 cup shredded part-skim pmozzarella cheese

1/2 teaspoon fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 425. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Scoop half of the potato out of each potato half and reserve for another use. Combine barbeque sauce and hot sauce in a cup, and spoon over potato halves. Fill each potato half with 3 tablespoons of chicken; sprinkle each with 1 tablespoon of cheese.

Carefuly place potato skins on prepared baking sheet. Bake until cheese melts and potatoes are hot, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

1 potato half per serving, 3 Weight Watchers points per serving.

Enjoy!

Snowmageddon, Indeed!

2010-02-06T16:49:00.006-05:00

Good grief.

24 inches of snow? At one time? In one place?

This good ole Southern girl can't take much more of this!

First, an update on the shrub off our back patio, taken about 24 hours after the first one:

Poor thing...smothered by snow.

This big lump is our cute little orange Vibe. You can only see the mirriw and taillights. (And the windshield wipers from the front.)

I'm not sure if this tree is going to make it. A large section has bent over with the weight of the snow.

This bush looks better in the summer when the leaves are on it. This one also may be no more...it's split in half by the snow.

I'm hopeful for this tree...it's bent a bit, but I think this one will survive.

Theses are the woods behind our house...very peaceful and beautiful.

This is the snowdrift formed after shoveling the driveway. It's almost as tall as I am! (Granted, I'm not very tall, but it is for a snowdrift!)

This is my garden flag. It does say "Be Mine" for Valentines Day, but it's been buried.

What's the old slogan..."Neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night keeps the postman from his appointed rounds"? Nobody said anything about a blizzard! The drifts are almost to the bottom of the mailbox. I don't think we'll be getting any mail for a while.

And...it's STILL snowing!

Good grief.

And So It Begins...

2010-02-05T18:01:00.004-05:00

Snowmageddon, they are calling it here. I think that's so funny!

We in the DC area are at the beginning of what is being referred to as "an historic snow", one which could set records in the books. I don't see how anything could be worse than what we had back in December, but perhaps I'm about to find out!

Here is the little shrub off my back patio, after about a half hour of sticking:

And here it is an hour later:

Getting a little dark in this one, but this is one hour after the last one--about an inch so far.

With the worst to come overnight, I'm not sure how much of my little shrub we'll see tomorrow!

A Pearl Out of an Oyster

2010-02-04T21:54:00.004-05:00

I attended a funeral today. Her name was Pearl and she was a lovely woman. Her nephew was one of my Cub Scouts and I enjoyed speaking with her about soap operas, particularly All My Children. We were both huge fans. I hadn't seen her in a few years; she was suffering from cancer and not up for much company.

She was a great joy to all who encountered her. I am blessed to have made her acquaintance.

Rest in peace, dear Pearl.