I See What You Meme

In some ways, I find it difficult to believe that I haven't blogged since Charlotte's birthday .  Looking back, it's not that difficult to fathom at all.  Adding a new person to the mix makes for one busy life! Our view at the lake on most days Kiddo has had a pretty great summer, I think. She had quite a few weeks at YMCA Day Camp getting dirty in between swimming lessons.  We also took a week to drive to Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri for a family vacation with Roger's relatives.  Despite getting on each other's last nerves before the 1000 mile trip to the lake was over, it was a fairly smooth ride.  We were pretty well crammed into the VW Bug but we made do and everyone was still relatively comfortable. The return trek was much more tolerable. Maybe we were all more relaxed by then!  Kiddo swam a ton, I read lots of books, and Roger caught about a dozen fish! Also, the Frozen  soundtrack was played about fifty times.  Give or take.  ...

As we shift out of the last few hours of a long holiday weekend, I'm going to share a few highlights from my hometown vacation.  Where to begin? First, the weather was perfect. While back in RVA they were facing freezing temps, I was happy to leave the house in a light fleece or t-shirt and cropped pants.  Any day you can wake to hear the roaring sound of the ocean from your bedroom window is probably a good day, don't you think?   Second, I was fairly spoiled by my family and friends.  I ate way too much (who didn't this week?) but it was all sooooo good.  My biggest problem (admittedly a first world problem at that) is that my mom doesn't have a coffee pot so we had to forage daily for our cuppa Joe.  Thankfully, there's a 7-Eleven ( Oh thank heaven!)  at the end of the block near my parents' house which forced me into a daily walk routine as well.   I think I might have been the Queen Dork of my high school. I can admit this now....

I have been in vacation mode for the last week and it has been WONDERFUL.  I started my break with a four day retreat camping at Bear Creek Lake State Park .  Roger and I hadn't been camping in almost a decade and we had definitely missed it.  It takes only a few days in the wilderness to remind you of a few important life lessons. Home Sweet Home for just a few days Plan ahead.   Everything takes longer when you're camping.  To get from our campsite to the bathroom, it was a 200 foot walk, uphill . It was definitely not wise to wait until the last minute.  Also, cooking over an open fire takes a while. Don't wait till the last minute to decide that you're ready for some dinner.  There are no microwaves in the great outdoors.   Learn to make do.  When you try to pack light, reduce, reuse, and recycle is the name of the game. Our fast-drying camping towels worked to dry our pots and pans after eating and our bodies after showers. ...

I got to spend the last week in Florida.  Yes, for those of you reading my blog in Virginia or other frigid climates, you are allowed to be a tad jealous.  Even though the evenings were cool, I got by with a sweater. And I walked on the beach almost every day.   It all ends tomorrow.   Overall, I had a great time with friends and family.  I spoke at my hometown library to a crowd of over 60 people and also presented to a great Girl Scout troop run by an old childhood friend. After all of that, I had a chance for some rest and relaxation.   I did have a few realizations during my trip. I have become the queen of reminiscence. I think I drove Roger crazy with stories of "there used to be a huge hotel in this spot" and "back when I was a kid, nothing was built out here" and "I remember when...".  Yeah, I'm getting older.  There is a mixture of feelings in watching your hometown change, especially when you don't live there all the time.  ...

While on our vacation , I spent a lot of time reading.  Here are my reviews: 11/22/63 by Stephen King My rating: 4 of 5 stars I'm so happy Stephen King isn't really "retired". 11/22/63 was an epic novel (690 pages!) that did not disappoint. King is the master at spinning a good yarn. In his latest book, he creates a time travel scenario just this side of plausible with characters who are believable, likeable, and still genuinely human (i.e. flawed). As protagonist Jake Epping attempts to make good on a dying man's wish to use a found portal into the past to stop the JFK assassination, he embarks on a journey that is part history, part fantasy, and completely engaging. Through the lens of the early 1960s, 11/22/63 explores the possible implications of time travel, examining that age-old question: are we masters of our own (or someone else's) destiny or is life more about a predetermined fate. As narrator, Jake repeats two mantras throughout the journ...

The vacation is officially over. Roger and I had a wonderful and relaxing time.  A few lessons learned: Lesson #1: Air Tran provides excellent customer service. The weather in Richmond delayed our departure and we missed our connection in Atlanta.  Fortunately, Air Tran put us up in a local hotel with a meal voucher and a flight out the very next morning. Unfortunately, we didn't get to the hotel until almost midnight and needed to leave  the hotel at 6 AM to make our shuttle. We didn't get a lot of sleep and the hotel had some bizarre issues with the room: the remote control for the television just advanced the channel regardless of which button was pressed (including volume).  Plus, the telephones were disconnected from the wall jack. When we connected them, the dial tone didn't seem to work. Good thing we had our phones and didn't need a wake-up call.  It was clean, though, and it was better than sleeping in an airport terminal.   Lesson #2: Social ...

On this day in 1997, Roger and I got married, surrounded by 120 (or so) friends and family.  It was a simple, beautiful, and fun event that marked the start of an amazing adventure that we call our life.  As I thought this week about what I might say in a blog post about our marriage, I had many ideas. I could list the reasons why I love Roger. I could share the things that I have learned about relationships in our 14 years together. I could recount many of the memories (good and bad) that have become our lives.   None of it seemed to hit the right tone. I don't know if there is a secret to our successful marriage. I've seen other friends and family get married. Many of them have also seen divorce. Our lives have seen joy and loss, success and failure. Is our marriage successful because we are a good match or is it because we do the right things and make the right decisions? I'm not sure. Every day I feel lucky to be married to one of my best friends. I don't thin...