Tag, I'm it!

Susan tagged me a few days ago and I'm finally getting to this....enjoy!

What was I doing ten years ago?
June 1998 - I'd just moved to Norman OK a few months earlier and was navigating my 1st summer as a Christan Ed director for a smallish church. That was one of the hottest summers on record in OK - lucky for me I got to go on a 2 week mission trip with the youth to Mendocino CA where it got to 60 degrees on a hot day!

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
"Work" is so pervasive these days - only 2 more days with kids - that it's hard to come up with anything "not work"....I'm scraping bottom, but I will be doing work stuff all day....
1. get my allergy shots
2. pay the bills
3. read for my summer class (that's close to "work" related, but not quite)
4. Feed the dog
5. take a shower

5 Snacks I enjoy:
* The Wegman's Bakery - pretty much anything, cookies, lemon squares, elcairs, carrot cake....
* Chocolate - any type...mini candy bars like butterfinger and Nestle Crunch
* Ice cream - to counteract all the other stuff I get light ice cream!
* Kashi Dark Chocolate and Cherry granola bars
* Jello with light cool whip (for when I'm feeling guilty about all the other stuff!)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
I'd move in to Susan's development so I could be around my friends and have the support of a great community!

I'd apply to all the foster care agency's and get my name on the list to take every baby and toddler that the state needed a temporary home for.

Foster Care alone should suck up a billion dollars pretty quick, but if there's money left over, I'd start my own school and only hire teachers who will teach within my philosophy...

Places I have lived:
In chronological order,
Alexandria, VA 1975-1979 (Waynewood area, new Mt. Vernon)
North Tarrytown, NY 1979-1987(home of WAshington Irving and the Headless Horseman)
Cincinnati, OH 1987-1993 (Indian Hill area)
Westminster College, New Wilmington, PA 1993-1997
Greenville, PA 1997-1998
Norman, OK 1998-2000
Alexandria, VA 2000-2002 (Rose Hill/Springfield Area)
Woodbridge, VA 2002- present (Lake Ridge area)

Jobs I have had:
Babysitter
Camp counselor
Arts and Crafts Director
Resident Assistant
Head Start Volunteer
Children's Colthing Expert (aka Customer Service at the Osh Gosh Bgosh factory store)
Substitute teacher
Christian Education Director
Day Care teacher - all ages
Filing person for a lawyer (lasted 3 days)
Tutor
Kindergarten Teacher
1st grade teacher

Only a few folks left to tag....Identity Mixed, Drew, and anyone else who might be reading this!

Wegmans

Today was the big day! Our brand new Wegman's opened! :)

I'd been looking forward to this for almost a year!
My friend Susan and I met each other over there - we were going to get stuff for book club, only I'd decided to skip out on book club (yesterday I was at a friends cook out and twisted my ankle and while it's not bad, I didn't want to overdo things, also it was a tough week at school and I wanted a low key day anyway so I was glad for the excuse for book club!) and she decided to bring left overs for book club so we just browsed.

Just getting in was an experience - it was like Disney World - there were SOOOOO many people. Traffic was backed up on the road in! This is DC after all so of course anything worth doing involved sitting in bumper to bumper traffic! The parking lot resembled Tyson's Corner on Christmas Eve, but I managed to get lucky and quickly scored a parking spot, a close one no less, and a shopping cart! Woo-hoo!

Upon walking in I realized that our Wegmans is much nicer than the one in Fairfax! We have 2 hot food bars, a salad bar, a whole section od pre-packaged prepared food! The whole story was wall to wall people though. I picked up some lemon squares, an eclair, some bagels - they didn't have the veggie cream cheese that I like, :( but I found some that might be good, they also didn't have the hummus I like on the Mediterrian Bar.

As we were checking out we learned that the Woodbridge Wegmans is the largest store to date!!!!! :) I'm so thrilled that I finally have an AWESOME grocery store right in my backyard! I can't wait to go back one day next week when school's out and everyone else is at work!

YIPEEE!!!!!!!

More Eat-n-Park Blasts from the Past

A few years ago Christine sent me this picture of some of my friends at Eat-n-Park with our favorite waitress Pixie!

I thought it would have been a great addition to my post below about Smiley Cookies, however at the time it was stuck on my broken computer! I since was able to rescue it!



Bottom Row (l-r): Chrstine, :?
Top (l-r): Drew, Pixie, Sean, Amy(?), Andy

Eat-n-Park...A Trip Down Memory Lane

This afternoon after school I found a plastic clamshell box of what looked to Eat-n-Park Smiley cookies just sitting on the table in conference room in the office. I was baffled. Eat-n-Park is a Bob Evans type family resteraunt in PA - there are a few in OH and WV but mostly in PA. The nearest one is probably at least a 3 hour drive. Yet those cookies had that distintive Eat-n-Park Smiley Cookie Smile. But where did they come from? And could I have one? Or 12?

I walked away thinking I'd go talk to one of the other 1st grade teachers who is from PA, maybe she'd know if they were genuine and where they came from. As I was heading down the hall I saw Renee - a 2nd grade teacher who is also from PA and that reminded me that her parents were here for the weekend! Aha! So I ask, did your parents happen to bring some Eat-n-Park Smiley Cookies? The answer...."yes"! Oh joy! She had some with her and she gave me one and gave one to Nicole - the other 1st grade teacher! Made my Friday!

Later I walked through the office - that same dozen cookies was still sitting there untouched. So I helped myself to a 2nd cookie. It occured to me that it was after 5:30 on a Fri - no one was likley going to eat them and I almost took the whole thing. But I didn't. :( I wish I'd had!

Eat-n-Park was a staple of my college experience. We always went in the middle of the night and always stuffed ourselves with baked ziti, grilled cheese, and the famous "fishbowl sunade". We went so often to the Eat-n-Park in Hermitage, PA that we made friends with the waitress - Pixie. She always worked the night shift and we got to be her favorite customers. She was even invited to a few weddings of the core Eat-n-Park crowd!

Random Thoughts on Monday night

First of all....in response to last Monday's "Who's Senile Now?" post...it's not me and no I didn't let the dog in, my next door neighbor did! Apparently when I was out back in my purple penguin pajamas with my flashlight my dog was rooting around in th bush in front of the house and since the door was open my next door neighbor let the dog in!!!

This morning I was working with my kids (1st graders - 6 and 7 yrs old) on some word study - they all had small dry erase marker boards and markers and had all written "rock". I asked them to make "clock". Many of my kids have a developing awareness of blends and left the "l" out of "clock - that's right, I looked down and about a 1/3 of my class had written "cock" on their marker board. Lucky for me a cock is also a rooster.

My 15 year old dog walker came over yesterday to tell me that she can't stand to see Daisy in pain. I inquired as to how she knew Daisy was in pain - because she moves slow and she bumps into stuff (she is blind, however last I checked blindness did not cause pain - the dog is not really aware of what she's lost in terms of sight) and that reminded her of her dog who died 5 years ago and she was afraid that Daisy was going to die soon. Well, she's 10, so the end of the road is probably fairly close. I told her that I was taking Daisy to the vet today and that if she was too upset about Daisy being old she didn't have to walk her. This afternoon I came home and there was this note:

"Please make shore that later when her nails are cut that they are filed smoothly. She has a tendency to scratch"

WTF? Who made her in charge?

I have no response for this....any thoughts?

Tomorrow night - 9pm EDT - Deadlist Catch season premier!

Book Quest

Have you ever had something that you just had to have right now?

That happened to me today.

Alice Hoffman is one of my favorite authors and her brand new book was to be released today. Borders was having their Educator Appreciation Week and with my teacher ID I could get 25% off and today was the last day. I had it all planned out - after school I'd head over and get the book and maybe a few other things. I was so excited because I never buy brand-new hardbacked books - I almost always use the library or wait till it's in paperback.

I got delayed leaving school so it was after 6 before I got to Borders and I went in on a quest - I scoured every table for the book - it's not there. I finally find the New Releases and scour it...no book. I'm getting a bit worried - maybe it didn't come out today. I then think to go to the shelf - maybe it's not on a special display? I get to the shelf and no new book. :( I find the one we are reading for book club in May, Blackbird House, which I was planning to buy so I get it and continue my quest. I'm not having any luck so I go to the "Title Sleuth" and type in the title and author. It says that it's "on reserve and will be here soon". What? I finally ask the man at the info desk and he looks in his special computer and tells me that the book was "in transit" and would be here in 4 or 5 days. What? The book was released today, I should be able to buy it today. The guy said that the shipment must have been delayed or something and that I could check back in a few days. Not going to happen. I didn't "need" the book, but suddenly, just because I couldn't get it probably, I had to have it. Now.

I did browse the pathetic children's section and got some EyeWitness books that were on sale and then took off...

I decided to check Costco - they sometimes have new books and I could pick up a cheap dinner too! They didn't have it, but they had some great pizza!

When I got home I went to Barnes&Noble.com and low and behold it said that the closest B&N to me had the book. I called them up and asked to be sure. Yes, they had the book and they'd place one on hold for me! It was 8:15 and they closed at 10. I was on my way!

I get to B&N about 8:30 and headed to the children's section, which was amazing comapared to Borders! There's just something about hanging out in a book store late at night (ok 8:45 is prob only late to me) and having the place pretty much to yourself! I found 7 other books that I needed, including some that were buy 2 get one free! I finally headed over to the checkout to get my book and see how much damage I'd done.

I was chatting with the check-out gal and told her I was a teacher. Did I have a B&N teacher discount card? No I didn't. Well, she could hook me up - even took my word for it when I didn't have my ID badge on me! She even gave me 25% everything - not just the stuff for my classroom! That means I saved $5.00 on my hardcover book!

Book Quest successful! :)

Who's Senile Now?

For those that don't know I have a dog. An ancient (10 years), blind, arthritic beagle-basset-bulldog. She's a pound puppy - I adopted her about 2 and half years ago and she's a great dog. Low key. Low maintenance. Sleeps a lot.

Usually in the evenings I go downstairs and let her out in the backyard - it's fenced and the gate is usually wired shut so she can't get out - while she's out I check e-mail and stuff and she comes to the door when she's ready to come back in. My computer broke about a week and half ago so I'm using my laptop upstairs so there's nothing to do in the basement so I go down let her out and go back upstairs. I can usually hear her scratch to come back in.

This evening I let her out and then went back up to finish my dinner. About an hour, maybe more, after I let her out I realized I had no recollection of letting her back in. So I went down to get her. She wasn't by the door and in the late day light I could see that the gate was open. Oh. No.

Oh no my blind, arthritic ancient dog was out in the world. And it was dark. And cold. And muddy. And I was in my pajamas. As added drama, she wasn't wearing her tags, so if she wandered over to someone no one would know who she is, unless they know her.

So I put on shoes and a coat - I zipped it up so maybe no one would guess that I'm wearing purple penguin pajamas (but the pants prob gave it away) - and grabbed a flashlight. I set out the back shining the flashlight in the woods and calling her name. The other times this has happened I have found her pretty immediately, but today nothing. She was no where. I had no idea where to look. Even an ancient hound dog has a powerful sense of smell she could have found something interesting and she could be anywhere.

I walked all around my row of townhouses, then around the back and up through the common area to a neighboring court and walked all around that. No Daisy. I walked back around. No Daisy. I'd been out about 25 mins. It was very dark by now. I had no idea what the next step was. I couldn't go in and hope she found her way home, however, I didn't know where to keep looking. I walked back home wondering if she had come home on her own (when she could see she would do that...I wasn't sure if she would now that she was blind).

I was standing outside contemplating what I should do when I heard that familiar clickity click of her too long toenails on the laminate floor. I thought "Oh no now I'm hearing her." I heard it again - this time there was no mistaking it. I went into the house and there was my blind, ancient, arthritic dog right there in the kitchen wagging her tail at me!

I must have let her in. I still have no recollection of this.

Who's senile now?

Spring Break!

Spring Break was crazy early this year - the 3rd week in March! This is not really a good thing as we have nearly 3 long months of school left with only 2 days off - 1 teacher work day the 1st week of April and Memorial Day. The distinct advantage to an early break though is low pollen counts and this week anyway near perfect hiking weather! I got out 2 days over break!

On Mon I went out to SNP and hiked a 3 mile (6 miles round trip)section of the AT. The hike itself was not all that scenic and I didn't take any pictures, however the trip back up Skyline Drive presented many photo opportunities! The clouds had begun to build to the west (it had been crystal clear and sunny the whole hike!)and made for interesting light with the sun and the mountains! Many of my pictures are repetetive, but I think they all came out pretty cool! There was no traffic whatsoever on Skyline Drive since it was essentially still winter in the mountains all the lodges, campgrounds, and waysides in the park were closed, effectively keeping out the riff-raff! This lack of traffic made it very easy to stop in the middle of the road to snap pictures whenever I saw something interesting!

On Friday I drove north to Catotcin Mountain Park - another small National Park. It's a neat little park! And another stamp in my National Parks Passport! The park borders Camp David and frequently parts of the park are closed. On Friday the mid-section of the park was closed "by order of the secret service" so I was limited in my exploration a bit, however the main features of the park - Chimney Rock and Wolf Rocks were still accessible. The hike was relatively short but delightful! I'm looking forward to heading back and exploring the rest of the park!

Check out my pictures!

VENT

I have horrible allergies. Most of you know that. My allergies are so bad that I get allergy shots. 3 a week in fact. My allergist is about 30 miles from my house so I take my allergy serum and get my shots at another allergists office. My allergist is not really a very nice person, she's not someone I'd want for a friend, but it's not her job to be my friend, it's her job to fix my allergies and she's very good at that. Her office staff shares her lack of interpersonal skills. But again, my life is so much better after having started treatment with them that I was willing to put up with it.

The rule is that when you need new serum you have to fill out the order form that was given to you when you got your serum (they have blank forms on thier websit but I got yelled at for using them) and fax it in about 2 weeks before you need it. Then you have to call to get an appointment to come in for your 1st shots.

Being as the dr is in Reston getting there and getting home is an issue - always involves leaving school early and getting home almost after bedtime - so I was thrilled that my need for new serums and my spring break concinded and I could go to Reston mid-day and then I could even run the serums over to the place where I get my shots so it doesn't have to live in my fridge for a week and risk me forgetting it.

So today I met a friend for lunch at 11:30 and then my appointment was a 3:15. I ended up with about 2 hours to kill. I wandered Barnes and Noble and Wegeman's but neither was really where I needed to be today. Then made my way over to the dr.

They call me back and the gal (I "affectionatley" call her the shot Nazi...seriously she's just mean)says "you have your serums right?" Ummm....no, that's why I'm here. She then asks when I faxed the form in....ummm..2 weeks ago. Well, we didn't get it. She then searches the pile and low and behold there's my form. She then debates the date that is conviently stamped at the top by the fax machine - doubting that I could have possibly sent it that day. She then informs me that SHE was on vacation and she mixed all the serums she had before she went and mine obviously wasn't in there and I'd have to come back next week. WHAT???????

No I'm sorry.

I'm beyond pissed. You see I basically wasted a day of my vacation waiting for my appointment and then drove all the way to Reston and now I have to do it again next week. Next week when I have to leave school early and deal with traffic. And not only that this gal made it out like it was all my fault! grrrrrr.....

Dead Skunk

This morning I was driving to school and a very odd, catchy song came on the radio. It was about a dead skunk in the middle of the road. I instantly liked it. I'd never heard it before and figured I'd never hear it again but it made me laugh and that was enough. Then this afternoon I was driving to my allergy shots and channel surfing and what comes out of my speakers but the "Dead Skunk" song!!!! I was able to listen to it all this time and it cracked me up! At first I'd thought that it was new song (and that was going to take away some of the charm) but then I glanced down to see what station it was on....I was listening to my XM radio and it was on the 70s channel!!!! It was a funky, old, rare song! Even cooler! I googled it when I got home and of course it's on YouTube!
I also found the link with the words...and someone else's story about the song....http://www.cwu.edu/~raug/deadskunk.html

Movie Review

I actually went to the movies. In the theater. That alone is worthy of a post, considering that in the last 5 years the only movies I have seen in the theater are: Finding Nemo, The 40-Year Old Virgin, Happy Feet, and I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Needless to say I have been enormously disapointed by my choices in movies to see in the theater! This weekend I had some down time - had planned to go hiking but the weather had other plans - so I decided I'd catch a movie.

My 1st thought was that I'd see "Fool's Gold" simply because it starred Matthew McConaughey and he's such a hunk. Even if the movie sucked, at least I'd have eye candy. As I read through the movie listing though, I saw that Juno was still playing. I'd heard a little about that one and really wanted to see it so I bought my tickets and off I went.

What a fabulous movie!!!!! I LOVED it! It's kooky and cheesy and totally sarcastic! It's also very real and deals with some controversial issues. I laughed so hard at many of the fab quotes! Unfortuently I can't find my favorite quote online - I'm going to have to buy it on DVD so I can get that quote. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it! If you liked "Little Miss Sunshine" you will love this one!

Allison Janeys - from West Wing - plays Juno's wiseass mother - she totally rocked!
The guy who plays Dwight on the Office played the part of a droll store clerk which got the movie off to a hysterical start!

It also starred Jason Bateman - you might remember him from Valerie's Family or was it Hogan Family? I think the show changed names a million times - it was a late 1980's sitcom about a family and the mom died and the dad was a pilot and there were 3 kids...you basic straighforward cheesy sitcom. Anyway, Jason Bateman starred in that show as the protective older brother and boy did I ever have a crush on him! Him and Michael J Fox were my dream boys!!!!! I was thrilled to see that he was in Juno - I had my eye candy after all!!!! It was good to see him again as he hasn't been around.

The Wall - Before and After

Over Christmas break I finally decided to paint the living room! I'm finally getting around to posting before and after pictures! Here is the living room wall and couch before I painted. Scroll down to see the after...




Here is the wall after I painted it with my pictures of Denali. The Alaska in the middle is made from old Alaska liscene plates! I bought it at the Bizare Bazzar - see more liscene plate art here

Cross Stitch Projects

I have a few projects I have recently finished - all were gifts so I was waiting to post until all have been given! :)

My friends Kris and Amanda had twins in July! I made these 2 samplers for the girls. I ended up having to paint the frames myself too as the ones I'd wanted had been discontinued! AGGHHH!!!!





My friend Rachel got married at the end of October. I bought her the breadmaker she wanted so decided to cross stitch her a breadcloth to go with it. This looked like an easy enough project, however the repetition proved to be very tedious and the whole project felt more like an endurance test than a creative venture! I was glad when this one was done!



One of my fellow 1st grade teachers at school got married in October also. I decided to make her some "Apples for the Teacher" kitchen towels similar to the ones that I have in my own kitchen.




I have 2 baby bibs that I have been working on. One for baby's 1st birthday and the other for a new baby due in May. I'll post those when I take a picture of them!

States I have Visited

create your own personalized map of the USA
or check out ourCalifornia travel guide

More on this later!

How Ridiculous is this????

This is beyond ridiculous - be sure to read the whole thing...the mind-boggling bit is at the end...

I'm starting my next grad class next Wed the 16th. Over break I ordered my books from Amazon.com. I ordered them on Thurs December 27. I chose "free shipping" since I wanted more books rather than paying for shipping. Basically this means "get them to me whenever you freakin' feel like it." Part of my order arrived on Saturday Dec 29 via US Postal Service. I was very pleased, however this portion of the order contained simply a few kids books I'd ordered "because I was ordering" not my books for class that I was thinking I'd get a head start on reading. I assumed that the rest of the order would soon be here. Wrong. Part of it did arrive on Wed the 3rd - again, not the part that included my books, well one of the books, but it's not the one I need to read 1st.

So when it didn't show up on Thurs or Fri I started wondering. Why did 2/3 show up but not the part I actually wanted? So I went to "track my package". Well, it's being shipped via DHL so I go to their site - it says "arrived in Alexandria, VA, out for delivery" on Fri evening. I was expecting it Saturday. no. I thought surely by today. no. WTF?

I got back on DHL's site. It appears that it is being taken to a post office for the USPS to deliver to me. Ok, good, they have their shit together and can actually deliver a package (as a side note I mailed a package to a friend in central PA after noon on Dec 31. She had the package before lunch on the 2nd of Jan. See what I'm talkin about...less than 48 hours, with a holiday and I didn't pay extra. But I digress). Well, the PO is closed for the night so DHL will try again tomorrow.

The TRULY ridiculous part.....you aren't going to believe this one....seriously....it will blow your mind...I scanned the whole "tracking" page and my package of books that I have now been waiting over a week for was sent from CHANTILLY VA!!!!! That's 30 miles from my house. That's right folks. The return address on the DHL page says "Sterling, VA" My box of books has traveled from Sterling (30 miles from my house) to Wilmington, OH (DHL's hub - near Cincinnati), then to Allentown, PA then to Alexandria VA and now it's being delivered to some PO. WTF??????

Here's proof:
http://track.dhl-usa.com/TrackByNbr.asp?nav=Tracknbr

I'm just blown away. I could have seriously driven over the warehouse and picked it up myself. I guess then I would have had to pay for the gas to get me there. Somehow, I doubt that this is the cheapest way for Amazon to get me my books.

Are you a lesbian?

A good friend of mine bought me the coolest ABC poster for Christmas. It's called the Alternative Alphabet for Little and Big People. It's prouduced by group the specializes in cultivating peace and social justice. The poster features each letter with a word and a picture then each picture has several other words around it that start with the letter. The cool thing about this poster is that it brings big idea and important people (K is for King Jr as in Martin Luther)not usually mentioned. It's bright and colorful and I was egar to find a special spot for it in my room this afternoon (a big statement as most stuff that goes up on my walls is either county mandated or child created). As I was hanging it up I noticed that one of the small words on the L was lesbian.

Hmmmmmm....a general rule of the thumb is that if you don't want to explain it to a six year old don't bring it into the room. I wasn't sure I could explain what a lesbian was on 6 year old terms. I wasn't sure if I should explain it. Finally I decided: who cares. When (and if) a kid asked I'd figure it out. I was not going to be afraid of a word or an idea, even if it is controversial. L is for lesbian just like L is for library or lollipop or leaf. Children need to learn about these things. We have a 2nd grader in our school who has 2 mommies - they are both very active in the PTA and very well accepted in the community - so it's actually something my kids might encounter.

The poster came with a teachers guide that explains all the words. I looked up what they had for lesbian and the definition read:

"Women loving other women however they wish."

I liked it. Simple. Non-sexual. Easy for a child to understand.

My only question is, doesn't that make us all lesbians?

Paint the Town Purple

Well maybe just my living room! I moved into my house in August 2002. The day we put my early American hand-me-down couch with the ecru and pastel stripped slip cover against the "real estate" ecru wall I knew that painting was in my (or my dad's) future. Since purple is my favorite color and there's a purple stripe in the slip cover, I thought the wall should be purple. Then my mom hung some blue shelves and covered them with various knick-knacks - most with sentenmential value - and the task of painting seemed too daunting. The blue shelves would not look good on the purple wall so they'd have to be painted and the project snowballed.

Then inspiration hit! I'd taken some fantastic photographs in Alaska (see them here and here, as well as in the Tetons and here in SNP. I'd take down all the knick-knacks (they just collect dust and dander and other things that make me sick) and replace them with pictures! I'd order poster size prints fron Kodak.com and just cover the walls with my own art!

I'd never embarked on such a project before. Other "home improvement" projects have been performed by my parents. They are currently enjoying their "gypsy" life and have a long list of projects for their own house so I decided I'd try this one myself. Especially after Susan painted both her basement (I can't find the link to that one!) and her mom's dining room made it look so easy! I figured that I'd do my best, learn as I go and not expect perfection the first time out.

So I made this my winter break project! I went to Lowe's and collected all the purple paint chips I could find. I settled on American Traditions "Purple Hills". I ordered 7 poster size prints of pictures of Denali. I then broke out the paint!

Sunday I painted the wall with the couch, thinking I'd stop there. I then was in a holding pattern waiting for my pictures to arrive. Other things I have ordered friom Kodak.com came in record time, not the case with my poster prints.

After I'd painted the couch wall I had a little less than half the gallon of paint left and it was burning a hole in my pocket so I had to paint more. The wall with the sliding glass door had too many things that I needed to take down and then get back up so I opted for the TV wall.

It's quite "purple". A bit more purple than I had in mind but I like it! I'm sure it will look different once I get my pictures up on it. Here are few pictures.....









I'll post "before" and "after" pictures once my pictures arrive and I get them up.

It's not a perfect paint job, but I did learn a lot about the process - I like using a brush for the edges better than the $6 ergonomic edger-tool I bought and I see why the pervious owner painted the ceilings the same color as the rest of the room!I'm already eyeing the other "real estate" ecru walls in my house (which is practically all of them!)....maybe a goldish yellow for the dining room, green for the bed room, a different green for the basement, maybe some blue in there somewhere, I also like red, I'm sure I can find something to paint red....hmmm....if I'm not careful the house will look like The Partridge Family Bus! Oh well, it's only paint, right?

Sam's Ridge & Hazel River - SNP

On Saturday I went out to SNP to hike! I'd again planned to hike on the AT to work toward finishing the central district, however I called ahead and Skyline Drive was closed due to ice storm damage. rats. Luckily I discovered this while still at home and could re-group. I decided to hike a smallish loop - 7 miles - in a region of the park that is typically called "Hazel Country".

Reaching the trail head involved winding back up into what West Virginiaians would call a "holler" - a single lane dirt road and the trail branched off from it. Finding parking would be a challenge as it seems that the majority of the people who own property that bumps up to SNP are crotchety rednecks who aren't fond of hikers. I'm sure there's good reason for this, but it's frustrating for one who truly wants to just park, hike, and leave. I'd love to buy some SNP boundry property someday and create a welcoming place for hikers to park and maybe offer snacks and stuff too...but I digress...

I ended up driving all the way down the road and turned around - I only located the trailhead because another car had parked there and the occupants were getting ready to hike. Luckily there was room for me too so I pulled in. I gave the other hikers a head start and I never saw them again until they arrived back at their car about 5 mins after I arrived back.

Part of the loop I was planning to hike went along the Hazel River - in fact the trail crossed the river 4 times. The guide book had warned hikers to be prepared to wade if the water was high. We've had a drought but it's also rained a lot lately so I had no idea what to expect. I opted to go up the ridge first and then hike along the river at the end, that way if I got wet I'd be almost back at the car!

I headed up the ridge and was glad that I'd did it first - it was quite steep and I would have hated to have to walk down it! Besides I enjoy the uphill much more than the downhill! (I know, I'm crazy). The trail had wonderful winter views of the surrounding mountains, not many that were photo worthy though. Hard to capture the mountains through the trees!





The area I was hiking through had burned in November 2003. It was the largest forest fire in SNP. It was actually 2 fires - one that started on Old Rag Mountain and the other started in a picnic area on Skyline Drive. The two fires converged and a huge section of the park burned. I saw the fire from Skyline Drive as it was coming down the mountain behind Panorama - it was awesome to see. While the area burned it is not dead - the picture above shows a burned out tree - it was only one of a few reminders of the huge fire!

The sun was forcast to make an appearance and it did, but only for a few minutes. I believe that this mountain is Mary's Rock on Skyline Drive, but I could be wrong.

The last mile and a half of the hike I walked along the beautiful and senic Hazel River. The Hazel River is your typical mountain river with big boulders, rushing water and lots of moss! I had to cross the river 4 times. The first time I stayed dry. The second time I got my right foot wet. The third time I got my left foot wet. The fourth time I got both feet soaked. My right foot was so squishy I felt certain that there was at leasy of cup of water in my boot and I considered taking my boot off to dump the water. At this point I was quite happy I was less than a mile from the car as I would not have wanted to hike 6 miles with soaking feet! It was about 50 degrees outside but I really wasn't cold....again though, I'm glad I was close to the car!

The picture above is one of the cascades in the river. My dad had been showing my how to change the sensitivity on my camera and change the sutter speed - I slowed it down for this picture and it mad ethe water blurry! Pretty cool!

Another shot of the Hazel River.

I returned to my car tired, but thrilled that it was only 4:00 - I thought I'd be able to get home and do something with my evening. I thought wrong. Very soon after I got in the car my typical post hike headache got going. This happens almost everytime I go hiking in SNP - it didn't happen in Alaska, Glacier, the Tetons, etc.... By the time I got to Warrenton, about halfway home, I took some Tylenol - it did nothing and by the time I got home I thought my head was going split open. I showered and crawled into bed before 8. I woke up at 3am and my head was still pounding so I took some Advil and when I woke up the next morning the headache was mostly gone.

I have explored various theories on these headaches - dehydration, not eating enough, allergies, asthma. On Saturday's hike all those things were controlled for. My new theory is that when I hike I'm getting migraines triggered by leaf mold and other outdoor allergens. I'll check with the doctor next time I see her. I did buy some Advil Migriane today to try the next time I hike. We'll see. I hope it works because I love hiking and I can only enjoy it in winter as it is!

Drew's End of the Year Meme

My friend Drew posted this on his blog and asked anyone else who wanted to to participate....it's a random list of favorite from 2007....I added a few categories as well..

Best Album: that's a hard one as I don't listen to whole "albums" anymore....iPod killed the album star! I never really did before though either... I did really enjoy Dave Matthews Band's Crash this year.
Best Non-Fiction: Words Their Way by Marcia Invernizzi and others and Forever Lily: An Unexpected Mom's Journey to Adoption in China
Best TV Series: Deadliest Catch, The Office
Best Fiction: Water for Elephants and the Stephanie Plum novels
Best Kids’ Music: Free to be You and Me
Best Movie: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry - prob not the best but likely the ONLY movie I saw in 2007
Best Sign of the Apocalypse: This website: Rapture Letters
Best Come Back of the Year: hmmm....not sure on this one...

Ok my categories:
Best Old TV show you are just getting into: Northern Exposure
Best Hike Anything in Denali National Park
Best grocery store: The New Harris Teeter
Best Summer Vacation: RVing in Alaska



Ok....I'm tagging everyone who reads this blog...you too Drew...add your own best of categories and share the events of the year!

Check out my Slide Show!

Straight No Chaser - 12 Days

Mr. Deity

Need some offbeat "Christian" humor in your day?
Go here click on "shows" then on Mr. Deity. Funny Stuff.
Enjoy!

Christmas Meme

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
I like a combination.

2. Real tree or artificial?
Artifical - we have always had a fake tree so that's just the way it's supposed to be. Also, I have serious allergies to all things outdoors so can't have a real tree.

3. When do you put up the tree? I usually don't. For the last 5 years I haven't put up a tree. I'm not home for the holiday and I just have to find time to take it down and put it away.

4. When do you take the tree down? Never b/c I don't put it up!

5. Do you like eggnog? I'm not a huge fan - a half a cup with some fruitcake or sherry cake is nice. Susan makes a great homemade egg nog.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
hmmmm...so many....the year of the Cabbage Patch Kid rush my mom arranged for me to get a homemade Cabbage Patch Kid. It was also the year I stopped believing in Santa. She wanted to make things more fun so she hid all my gifts in the living room and tied string around each one I had to follow the string - rolling it up on a toilet paper tube as I went - to each gift. The Cabbage Patch Kid was last, along the way there were Cabbage Patch accessories and it was making me mad b/c I thought I'd never really have a Cabbage Patch doll for them and couldn't figure out why mom had gotten me all these things.

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes, I have one that I cross stitched - it's 10 stand up figures that I cross stitched and had professionally finished. It stays out year round.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
My mom and Dad - they usually just go buy whatever they want so it's hard.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
The kids on my list - Alex, Evan, Brandon - they are little so prtty much anything works...or just wrapping paper and empty shipping envelopes.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Not that I recieved but last year my grandma was given a box set of Hee Haw DVDs. Guess what we did Christmas afternoon? That's right. 6 hours of Hee Haw. Funny at first, annoying 6 hours later.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards?
I haven't done any in recent years, but I do love recieving newsy letters with pictures and stuff!

12. Favorite Christmas movie?
Hands down A Christmas Story. Cracks me up every time. No I don't watch the entire 24 hour marathon on Christmas eve but I usual tune in to parts of it.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
I don't buy much, I start when I see the 1st present I like for someone - I don't buy "random stuff" I try to make sure the gift matches the person and if I can't find anything then they might not get a gift!

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Oh my gosh yes!

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Peanut butter candy, fudge, sherry cake, fruit cake, christmas cookies, crandberry layerd jello salad...everything.

16. Lights white or colored on the tree?
white lights - although Mom had a tree when we lived in Cincinnati covered in colored lights and it was pretty. colored lights get obnoxious fast.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
Anything that is a carol - I'm not a big fan of Christmas songs that don't mention Jesus.

18. Travel for Christmas or stay home?
Travel - I usually get my grandmother in Fredericksburg on Christmas eve or the day before and we go to my parents house in Williamsburg. No kids involved so it's usually very low key.

19. Can you name all of Santa's' reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, Rudolph!!!!!!!! I teach 1st grade - this is basic information!

20. Angel on the treetop or a star?
My mom made an Angel when I was young - I used to think she was the most beautiful thing ever. I saw it the other day in a box in the attic....she's looking abig ragged.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Christmas Day - with no kids involved we usually sleep in, eata leisurly breakfast and then maybe around 11 or 12 mosy into the living room and open presents. We go 1 person at a time and show off what we got usually takes 2-3 hours but we chit chat and break for cofee and stuff...

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
That you couldn't go to the mall if you wanted to. Radio stations that play holiday music that isn't even religious. That EVERYONE, including the Muslim children at my school, celebrates Christmas - it seems to take the meaning out when it's a mass holiday that is celebrated irrespective of religon.

23. What do you love most about Christmas?
The songs, the lights, the cold weather - the snow (here's hoping for more!)

I have gotten this survey through e-mail several times but posted it back here and feel the need to tag people....if you are reading this and haven't posted this to your blog....you are it!!! :) Post away! :)

Thanksgiving with the Family

Dad's side of the family - Thanksgiving Day - Ditchley

On Saturday, we got together with Mom's side of the family to celebrate my Grandmother's and my Uncle's birthdays!

The Blind Doggie Cronicles: Part 1, Blind Doggie goes on a trip

A few weeks ago I discovered that my dog was blind. I debated leaving her in a kennel for my anual Thanksgiving pilgrimage to Williamsburg and Glouster VA, however decided that she'd rather stay with me, blind or not, and that she'd prob do fine. I'd decided that I'd keep her on her leash while were at the family gathering at Ditchley so she wouldn't wander off and get lost or otherwise get in touble.

My great Jessie (my dad's aunt) has a house on the Ware River near Glouster, VA - it's an old plantation house and there's lots of land. Every year at Thanksgiving the entire extended family gathers there for a potluck Thanksgiving dinner. We have anywhere from 10-50 people - this year I think we had 30 or so. It's just a dinner event - we all show up, eat ourseleves silly, and leave. Dogs are an integral part of the event - sometimes out numbering the humans! One year my great uncle George commented that he knew more dogs than people!

So anyway, Daisy and I left Woodbridge around 8:15 am on Thursday and zipped right down to Williamsburg, arriving by 10:30 am. Daisy Mae did just fine on the trip down and when we arrived at my parents house, she explored and sniffed, and checked the floor for any dropped food, finding none, she curled up and went to sleep.

When it was time to head to Ditchley, she let me pick her up and put her in the car and she did great on the trip out. When we got there, I decided to tie her to the tv table so hopefully she'd be out of the way and not get into trouble. We'll she didn't like that much and insited on pulling the leash as far as she could and was in everyone's way. Since it was so lovely outside (it was 75+ degrees) we all ate outside so I took her outside and tied her to my chair. This worked, except that I couldn't get up!

Late in the afternoon I decided to take a walk out the pier - I hadn't been out on the pier since before Hurrican Isabel destroyed part of it 5 years ago! It was sunset and the sky was really pretty. Daisy and I were strolling down the pier, I was taking pictures of the sunset, when all the sudden I felt a tug on the leash, then felt the leash slide out of my hand. I looked behind me and Daisy was gone! I looked down and there she was in the water! If you know my dog you know that's NOT a swimmer. She won't even go out in the rain! The good news is that she did know how to swim. The bad news, she started swimming the wrong direction! She was swimming AWAY from the shore and out into deeper water! Oh no! My dad and I were thinking we were going to need to go in after her. I was about to, but I knew I didn't have any extra clothes so was thinking I'd have to skinny dip. Not exactly the thing to do at the family thanksgiving gathering. Luckily when I started calling out to Daisy she turned around and swam toward my voice and she was able to follow my voice all the way to the shore! Pretty amazing!


When I got her out of the water we walked back to the house, I dried her off and put her in the car - she was safer there!

The rest of the trip went well. Daisy did a great job of learning a new enviornment! Took a lot of trust on her part since she really had to rely on me to guide her and trust that I wasn't going to let her get hurt. The biggest challenge at my parents house are the steps going up stairs. They are hardwood with a runner up the middle. If her feet aren't on the runner she slides all over. She uses the wall to guide her down the stairs at home, however at mom and dad's she can't get to the wall because there is no carpeting there. Going up she does ok, going down is a big challenge.

We got home a few hours ago and she's been sleeping it all off! I can tell she's much happier being home where she knows where everything is!

What doesn't the Warranty Cover?

Everything that was actually wrong with my car. Car rental - free, getting the car repaired - crazy expensive.

The verdict: After a mere 36,000 miles the brakes on my car were gone. Nothing left. All parts that could get worn were worn. Needed the front brakes entirely replaced. Of course this is a wear issue, not covered by the warranty. The reason they wore out so quick? Likely overuse. Welcome to DC traffic hell.

There were a number of other things that needed fixing so I just had them fix it all. Ws considering keeping the free rental car! It was cheaper! HA!

The good news? They got it all fixed today and I picked it up this evening! The pick-up was much easier - I was able to return the rental to the Saturn place and the cashier was there until 7:00 so I didn't have to rush!

I was super efficent and stopped at Thomas's Pizza (the best pizza in the area, right by the Saturn place) and ordered a pizza on my way to the dealer and it was ready when I came back though! :)

Praises to the Extended Warranty

When I was on my way home from SNP on Saturday I noticed my car making a strange grinding noise when I applied the brakes. It kinda reminded me of the noise the car made when the I had a flat tire (which incidently had happened in the exact same place!), but stopped when I wasn't pressing on the brakes. I kinda ignored it b/c when I turned the radio up I couldn't hear it and I didn't have time to deal with it.

Well the problem quickly escalated. Last night I went out to dinner with a friend and I drove and had the radio off - man it was a loud, awful, grinding, screching sound. Sounded like something was caught in the brakes and dying or something. The car still stopped and all but it would shake a little and make SOOOO much noise.

The bigger problem was that I didn't have to deal with this - I'd had a thing after school on Mon, then Tues was our family literacy program, Partners in Print, that I'm in charge of and that took all my planning time so I didn't have a spare moment Mon or Tues to even call to get an appointment. I almost called in sick this morning to stay home and deal with this, but my classroom was a disaster because we just tossed all our materials from Partners in Print in my room - I didn't even know where my attendance was, couldn't have a sub in that. So then I thought I'd leave early - um no, I had a parent coming at 4:00 for a conference that I'd already rescheduled once.

So this AM I call the Saturn place to see what the latest time I can come is. Well, if I want it looked at today I had to be there by 4:00 - not going to happen. If I wanted to drop it off and get a rental I had to have it there by 5:30. Probably not going to happen.

So now I'm thinking I'd just wait till tomorrow. Well, tomorrow is just as crazy - it's our Thanksgiving Lunch which is just pure chaos, can't leave the kids with a sub for that so I thought I'd take the afternoon off - I tried to call it in to the sub computer and my cell phone battery was dead and I couldn't get my pin number out. aghhhhh. Maybe I would just come in late - call in and say I was having car trouble and come an hour or so late.

Oh and as a complicating factor, I HAVE to go get my allergy shots tomorrow - I already missed a week and can't go any other day. AGHHHH. So getting a friend to drive me to school was out - and depending on when it's ready (if it's ready tomorrow) I'll have to double back or leave early or something...

After school the parents I was meeting with showed up on time and we talked for about 20 mins then I hightailed it out of there. Left school at 4:30 and rolled into the Saturn dealer at 5:30 on the nose! WOW! The service guy checked me in and called the Enterprise people to "pick me up".

The best part....I have an extended warranty on my car so the car rental is "On Saturn"!!!!! YEAH! I hope the repair falls under the warranty also - I can't remember what it covers, if something broke it's covered, if it was damaged I don't think it's covered.

So by 6:30 I was crusin' in a Merlot Ford Tarus boat - I think the 80's left this car behind - it has a tape deck! I think they stopped making tape decks in cars in the 90s! The "cigarrette lighter" doesn't power my iPod (b/c this thing was built before iPods were invented I bet)so tonight I dug through my shoebox of cassette tapes - like a trip down retro lane! I'd thought about pulling all my tapes out to see if there were songs that I wanted to download from iTunes so now's my chance!

The Cable Company

About a year ago I posted this rant in my MySpace blog:

Our local cable provider can provide it's customers with high speed internet, DVR, on demand movies, and hundereds and thousands of TV channels. They are the internet, they are technology.....what they cannot do however is send your bill electronically. WTF?

Not only that but the bill is ALWAYS due at the end of the month and it never arrives until the day AFTER I have paid the bills for the month as a result I'm constantly a month behind on my cable bill. I have called, I have explained that if they'd like their $ on time they should send the bill at a different time in the month and they have said that they can't move it. Now that I have switched over to online bill pay though I just direct the bank to pay them when I pay the rest of my bills and it has been working better....just can't believe the "the internet company" can't send me an e-bill like all the other utilities!

Today the rant gets longer. Due to Comcasts billing issues I usually simply pay them a round sum of money every month with out even looking at the bill (as I could find the paper bill amidst the other papers). I think the bill is generally about $61 so I just round up and electronically send them money. Last month I actually looked at the bill and it was over $100! I must have been late a few times or something - so on October 21st I paid them $120 - thinking I'd just run a credit for a few months - no big deal. Tonight I got a phone call from Comcast - regarding my payment. Apparently they were perturbed by my overpayment of their bill. I asked what exactly the problem was - I'd paid my bill. The gal said that was fine and told me to have a good night. WTF? I asked her about why I couldn't pay the bill online like all my others and why it's one of 2 paper bills I get that cannot be turned into e-bills - she told me to call Comcast directly - so this gal was some telemarkter person.

Oh and an added rant about Comcast - in June, the last day of school to be exact, Comcast rearragned ALL it's channels - suddenly my favorite channels were not what they used to be - not only that but whatever they did it did not register with my TiVo (which usually knows everything) so for like 3 days I recorded soap operas in Spanish rather than King of Queen, Will and Grace and Friends. When I discovered this I had to go in and manually change all the channels so TiVo would know what was what. Further, Comcast has still (almost 6 months later) not been able to post the channel line-up on the web so my TV downstairs is permanently on Lifetime since that's the only channel I know the number for that has shows I like - the TiVo is the only one in the house who knows what station is which! Aghhh!!!!!

Snow on the Mountain!

I finally had a free Saturday! I had big plans to head out to Shenandoah National Park for a long awaited hike! It had rained a lot last night and was still cloudy and dreary looking this morning, but I was going hiking and I didn't care that it wasn't the prettiest of days. I'd gone to bed super early Fri night and woke up pretty early Sat morning so had time to get myself together, get the sheets through the washer and the dryer and update my iPod before heading out about 10 am.

I had a hard time deciding what to wear - mostly I wasn't sure if I should wear my Helly Hansen Polyproplyene long underwear top. The only other time I'd worn it was when Dad and I hiked to The Harding Ice Field in Kenai Fjords NP and I was so hot I nearly drowned in sweat. I finally decided to go ahead and wear the shirt - it was forecast to be 46 degrees here and I figured it would be a bit colder on the mountain and 46 was going to feel pretty cold.

I gathered up all my winter hiking clothes - my gore-tex pants, 2 fleece tops, 2 prs of gloves and a fleece ear warmer and headed out. I decided to stop at Harris Teeter in Bristow to grab lunch - as an added bounus I had a $10 coupon so it was almost free! :) I arrived at the park around Noon - there was a line at the Thorton Gap entrance station which surprised me because it was such a dreary day.

I'd planned to hike a portion of the AT from Pocosin Fire Road to South River Fire Road which was at about mile Marker 60 - I was at about mile 30. At first there were no views from Skyline Drive - just fog and clouds where the mountains should be. Then as I traveled further south and gained elevation - there was snow!!!! And then there was fog. It was a heavy wet snow that stuck in every nook and cranny of the trees creating a beautiful winter wonderland! The fog I could do without - in places you couldn't see 2 ft in front of you.

Due to driving conditions I quickly ditched the idea of going all the way to Pocosin Fire Rd - opting instead for Whiteoak Canyon. It was closer, and I figured that there would be lots of people there. I pulled into the parking lot and I was one of 3 cars! 3 cars in the Whiteoak Canyon parking lot at 12:30 on a Saturday. I couldn't believe it. Yes, the weather was nasty - but it wasn't snowing or raining. It was cold though - it was 30 degrees when I got out of the car. I was instantly glad that I'd worn the long underwear shirt and brought all my winter gear! As I was getting myself ready to go another car pulled up and I started chatting with the people who were in it - turns out Skyline Drive had been closed up until just a few minutes before I pulled up! :) WOW - amazing timing!

The trail itself was a winter wonderland and I had it all to myself! Whiteoak Canyon, the most popular trail in the park, and it was all mine on a Saturday afternoon! And it was covered in snow to make it even better! The silence of the forest was just amazing. As I descended to the upper falls there was less snow and the temps were rising. At the upper falls there was no snow and the trees were alive with fall colors!

At the overlook there were about 10 people, most of whom had hiked in from the bottom since the drive had been closed when they arrived. They were a bit pertubred to learn that the drive was open and that it was covered in snow! :)

It only took me an hour to hike down to the falls, but I was anxious about getting back to the top since they close the drive at 5:00. It took me about an hour to get back so I was back at the car in plenty of time to get off the drive before I got locked in.

I'm so glad I was able to get out today and enjoy the dueling seasons - one minute it was fall and the next it was winter!

Check out the pics below! :)

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

When I got home this evening I checked the weather...the temp is going down to 29!!!! FINALLY! The 1st freeze. The freeze that kills the pollen! No more pollen until March when the trees get going!!!!! YIPPPEEEE!!!!! :)

We now do the dance of joy!

Alex and Evan

Over the weekend I went to my friend Rachel's wedding! It was so much fun! A beatuful setting and great friends to see! I have a few other pictures but let's get started with a few of my favorite "little people" - Drew and Brenna's kids Alex and Evan.....



Alex - age 2 1/2 - grinning in the sun on the deck after Rachel and John's wedding.



Evan - age 7 months - contemplating life.



Alex and Evan with their Daddy.



Alex exploring the water glass.



Alex enjoying the ice cream - he also enjoyed the cheese, grapes, bluberries, tomatoes, cucumber, chicken, french fries (or are they just fries?), and cake - the boy can eat!

I'm the only me!

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Pushing Daisies

A few weeks ago my friend Susan posted about a new show on ABC Pushing Daisies so I decided I'd TiVo it and see for myself.

I just watched it and oh my gosh it's hysterical! It's a totally psychedelic crime show - it's the love child of Scooby Doo and CSI. There is a whole pie motif as well that makes me think of Twin Peaks...remember that one?

Basically the gist is that this guy - the Pie Man - has a gift - he can touch dead people and they come alive, if he touches them again they die forever. If he keeps them alive for more than one minute something else must die. He uses his gift to solve crimes, he wakes the dead asks who killed them and instantly solves the crime bringing justice to the dead. He has brought back his childhood sweetheart...only catch is that he can't touch her, b/c it would kill her.

It's a totally hysterical show and I encourage everyone who is reading this, although Susan I think is the only one and she already watches it, to watch it so it doesn't get cancled! :)

Blind Doggie

My doggie, Daisy Mae, has been having some issues. She's old - at least 10, maybe even older and lately she's been wetting the bed everytime she lays down. She had peed on all her beds and herself. That was my big concern that lead us to the vet today. It stinks. It makes a mess. And I had no idea why it was happening. I'd noticed that she was having trouble on the stairs in the mornings and so I figured her arthritis was getting bad and she was stiff in the morning. I'd also noticed, fairly recently, like in the last week - week and a half that she was bumping into things. Mostly in the morning when I let her out she'd miss the sliding glass door and walk head on into my antique-painted-by-my-great-grandmother coal hod by the fireplace. One morning she got stuck behind my desk attempting to go out the wrong side of the sliding glass door. I'd sorta chalked this up to the fact that she's not a morning dog and maybe wasn't quite awake yet. This morning when I fed her she walked over to her dish and walked right into the wall before before bending down to eat.

I took her to the vet early so she could get a bath before the appointment. The whole staff at the vet's office noticed that she was running into things. The vet was quite concerned, esp since this was so sudden. Turns out Daisy is blind. I'm not sure if it's total blindness at this point or rapidly deteriorating but she def can't see well at all. My vet has referred us to a Veterinary Opthomologist to investigate and fully diagnose the problem.

This is why she has a problem with stairs. Suddenly she can't see them. Maybe this is why she is incontinent all the sudden - she can't see to get downstairs when she has to go.

The dr gave us some pills for the incontinence, but the sudden blindness was a much bigger concern.

I have surfed the net a bit and there's actually a lot out there. It's sounding like this is a permanent situation, but I don't think it will be that bad - of course it's likely the beginning of a downward spiral for my senior doggie. :(

Calling all Deadlist Catch Fans!!!!! The final Armchair Traveler Reviews!

If you love Deadlist Catch then you need to read these 2 books:

Lucy The Giant by Sherri Smith - I don't normally go for young adult novels, however I enjoyed this one! Lucy is a teenager growing up in Sitka, AK, who deals with much of the usual teenage angst - excaerbated by the fact that Lucy is overly tall, her father is a drunk, her mom ran away when Lucy was little and she doesn't think she has any real friends. Opportunity presents itself and Lucy runs away to Kodiak and joins the crew of a crab boat where she discovers community and friendship and life on a crab boat is much better than life at home. Lucy's utopia unfortuently is shattered by the secrets she was keeping. But the book has a happy ending!

Dead in the Water by Dana Stabenow - Dana Stabenow is "the Alaskan Mystery Writer" she has written lots and lots of books all set in Alaska any many starting Kate Shugak. Kate used to work in DA office in Anchorage, now she's unoffical, but she still helps out. In this book she is under cover on a crab boat to determine what happened to 2 crew members who met untimely and unexplained deaths the previous season. Kate quickly uncovered the true identity of the skipper and quickly figured out how the crew members died..it seemed as if every lead she followed turned into something important...which kept the book moving, but left me feeling that the story was very contrived. There were some surprises at the end of the story, however since this is one many stories starring Kate Shugak so you know that she survives no matter what and that took away some of the suspense.

The thing I found most interesting about both of these books was that it is considred bad luck to have a woman on a crab boat...yet both of these books have women main characters!

Both books made for good Deadlist Catch fixes and were decent reads about AK!
Not only that but I have now completed the Armchair Traveler Reading Challenge!!! :) Go me! :)
I really enjoyed the challenge...it was fun to read books around a theme and have a reason to blog about them....I'll be on the lookout for the next challenge....

2 hours...

That's how long it took me to get home tonight. Susan has blogged a lot about the horrors of traffic here in the DC suburbs but today took the cake. I left school at 5:50. I walked into my house at 8:00. That's more than 2 hours. It's less than 20 miles from my school to my house. The reason: A truck accident on I-95 south right at "my" exit. Apparently the accident happened BEFORE rush hour so that must have been like 10am - there's not much day that would classify as "before" rush hour. And apparently 95 south was shut down for awhile. Traffic was backed up everywhere! I know about 12 different ways to get home from school and I tried all of them. Every route I took I was greeted with lines of backed up cars. Many times I just broke down into tears I was so frustrated and feeling so clausterphobic about being literally being stuck with no way out. Kinda made me wish I was driving my little RV again...then I could have pulled off and watched TV or something! :)

Do you realize how far I could get in 2 hours driving the speed limit? Almost the whole way to my friend in Central PA's house. Williamsburg - which is like a whole other era so I could practically go back in time in 2 hours. The Mountains - Shenandoah National Park is less than 2 hours away. And it took me 2 hours to drive 20 miles today.

There are only 2 other times that I remember traffic being this bad...one was Sept 18, 2001, exactly one week after 9/11 - they re-opened some of the military bases and with the heightend security traffic backed up very quickly. I was interning in Southeast DC at the time and it took me 3 hours to get to work. I didn't have a cell phone either. There was a silver lining then though...I was at the top of a hill on I-275 in Washington DC with an amazing view of the Capitol, The Monument, and The Pentagon when they played the National Anthem in conmemortation of the one week aniversary. That was an amazing moment.

The other time traffic was this bad was the day a fertilizer truck over turned on I-95 and they had to shut down the road for the whole day and re-pave the road b/c the fertilizer ate through the asphalt! That was a big mess because there was no way to get south of DC and 95 was backed up from the Beltway to Fredericksburg. The silver lining there....I wasn't sitting in the traffic.

Today, no silver lining.
Drive safe out there folks...you wouldn't want the biggest back up in DC history to be your fault! :)

Book Quiz.....

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

You're West Virginia!

You are a true coal miner's daughter, or maybe even son. You probably
smoke, and your lungs are paying for it every day. While you're definitely willing to
separate yourself from the crowd for what you believe in, this policy has put you into
a state of unending obscurity and poverty. As a result, people only come to visit you
on foot, and usually they're just trying to prove that they can do it. Keep a canary on
your shoulder whenever possible.


Take the State Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Challenge Update

Well, I was crusing along with my books for the reading challenge. Then I started About Grace

by Anthony Doerr. Life is too short for About Grace. I'm usually not one to put down a book that I have begun - I usually plow through it, even if I decide I'm not a fan or it's too hard. I was planning to do that with About Grace, however about 2 weeks ago I got a notice from the library that it was my turn for Khaled Hosseni's A Thousand Splendid Suns. I knew I had to put About Grace down and read this one since it was in such hot demand I'd never be able to renew it. I absouletly loved A Thousand Splendid Suns. I thought it was just magnificent writing and such a compelling, though heart breaking and horrifying, story. I couldn't believe how Hoesseni was able to draw me into a story that was so far outside of my own exsistence! Abosultely amazing. A must read. Now, I know I could count A Thousand Splendid Suns toward my challenge, many people have it on their lists, however I had decided before I started that all my challenge books would be about Alaska. So back to About Grace.

It's not a bad book. In fact, it's prob a great story. It's just dense. Very very dense. The story is about a man who has an affair with a married woman, they have a child, Grace, they get married and move from AK to Ohio. He has these dreams in which he sees the future. In one of the dreams he dreams that Grace dies in a flood. He tries to change the course of things and his wife thinks he's crazy. The flood he dreamt about happens, but his wife kicks him out of her and Grace's life and he doesn't learn if Grace survives or not. He then moves to an island where he tries to make sense of everything. The story is full of his angst, uneasyness, and grief about possibly killing his daughter as well as the giant question mark - is she alive or not. He attempts communication through letters with his wife and child but they are never answered. I got far enough into the book that I was attached to this man and very interested in hearing the end of the story. However, it's such a dark tale and so tough to get through the writing that going back to it, especially after reading about the horrors of modern day Afghanistan was asking too much.

So....my new book(s) for the challenge:

I needed a twinkie read so I have actually come up with 3!

The Homestead Kid - This is a book that my mom bought me in AK. It's about a family who took in a number of foster children and then moved to bush of AK to build a homestead and live off the land. They loaded up in an old school bus turned camper and bought a claim of land outside of Fairbanks. They all pitched in to build the cabin and barn and other buildings. It's dubbed "Little House on the Perma-Frost" - for all you Laura Ingalls fans!

Dead in the Water - Dana Stabenow I had previously avioded her work not being a big fan of mysteries, esp criminal/murder mysteries, however she has written so many books about Alaska that I had to try just one. This one takes place on a crab boat on the Bering Sea so might be able to scratch my "Deadlist Catch" itch in the process.

Lucy the Giant - Sherri Smith This is actually a young adult book - there are lots of young adult books about AK, but I'd kind of been avoiding them just because I'm not too into reading books about teenagers - even though I know there are some great YA books out there! This one also is set on a crab boat in the Bering Sea!

So whichever one I finish 1st I'll post as my final book in the challenge. Do I get extra credit for the other 2?

My Middle Name

Well Susan tagged me so here goes.....I liked this one, it was a bit different....

Here are the rules for this Meme:

The Rules:
1) You have to post the rules before you give the facts.
2) Players must list one fact that is relevant to your life for each letter in your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name then use a name that you like.
3) When you are tagged, you must write a post containing your own middle name game facts.
4) At the end of your post, you must tag one person for each letter in your middle name. Don’t forget to comment them telling that they are tagged and to read your post to get the rules.

My middle name is Reeder. I'm named after my God Parents, Edythe and PE Reeder. They were both teachers in Dunbar West Virginia - Edythe taught 3rd grade (and was "the" 3rd grade teacher that everyone wanted their kids to have) and PE taught High School English. Both were active in the National Education Association and PE was even the president of their local chapter at one time. I find this interesting because no one else in my immediate family is in education in anyway shape or form. Even the last time I saw Edythe and was very old, suffering from Alzhiemer's and hadn't seen me in years her 1st question for me was "Is my baby a teacher yet?" Anyway, I digress - I'm named after them because they had no children of their own, just a few God Children. The agreement my parents made with Edythe and PE was that she would name me after them and then I would get Edythe's silver punch bowl after they died. They are both dead now and I have no punch bowl, oh well, it's a good story!

Ok on with the Meme:

R - Read....I love to read! I mostly read novels - I'm currently reading Khaled Hosseni's "A Thousand Splendid Suns", but I also enjoy magazines, professional books and educational journals

E - Engergetic, most of the time, when my allergies aren't acting up, I'm very energetic

E - eating....really, who doesn't love to eat????

D - Doing crafts - I enjoy crafts of all kinds, but I'm especially partial to cross stitching.

E (another e? seriously, this is hard...) - Excercise - gotta work off all that food right? I'm not to regular about it but I enjoy getting on my treadmill, or going for a swim, when it's not a pollen season or too hot (so like January) I really enjoy going hiking in the mountains. I'm also getting into yoga, a friend of mine from work teaches a yoga class after school and it's lots of fun!)

R - Relax - I always enjoy a good day of relaxing in my jammies with my computer and my TiVo!

Ok so now I have to tag 5 people....hmmm...can't tag the person who sent me this....let's see...I'll tag: Brenna, Counsuelo, Kristie, John, and Judy (yes I know your sister already tagged you)

EWWWWW!!!!!

This evening I let my dog out in our backyard. My backyard has a large grassy area with "flower beds" around the edges. The "flower beds" were lovely when I moved in 5 years ago, but they are now over grown and full of weeds. Daisy likes to crawl around in the weeds and sniff things. Tonight was no exception.

She was out rooting around in the weeds and I was checking e-mail and such. She comes to the door and scratches to be let in. I go to the door and immedatlely notice that she has something in her mouth - her mouth is bulging and there's some furry grass sitcking out. I figured whatever it was that was in there was dead and I surely didn't want it in the house. I figured Daisy had a plan for her critter - likely to eat it - and I didn't want her to do that on her bed!

So through the glass I directed her to "drop it". Daisy doesn't know any commands, but I swear she understands me. She looked at me like "Drop what, I don't have anything." I then told her "You aren't coming in until you drop whatever is in your mouth." Again she looked at me like she didn't know what I was talking about. I then gave her a stern "NO!"

At this point she backed away from the door. I decided I had to go out there with her. I opened the door and she made a run for it. Luckily she's old and fat and I caught her collar before she got in the house.

I finally managed to pry open her mouth (luckily I'm reasonably sure she won't bite me) and about half of the furry creature emerged. It reminded me of childbirth. It was gross.

I pried her mouth even further open and the entire dead baby rabbit fell out. :( It was whole and didn't look like it had suffered.

I then sent the dog in the house with a stern "get in there" and she was smart enough to go. My next task was to get the shovel and get the body off the patio and out of the yard where hopefully a hawk or other predatory animal was able to get a free meal.

This is now the 2nd baby rabbit she has killed, that I know of. Who knows if she killed more and devoured them outside. You'd think the rabbits would learn not to build a nest in my yard! And to think that for 6 months she shared a house with a rabbit!