April Showers...

After a week of pretty decent weather: temps in the high 60's, sunshine, weather you just want to get outside to, weather you are just thankful it's a 10 minute drive home on your lunch "hour" (really 40 minutes) just so you can get outside and feel the sun on your face and breath in a little fresh air because the rest of the day you are cooped up with a bunch of stinky little bodies in classrooms sealed shut because the teachers get "cold" if they so much as feel a little draft on them! Then the weekend arrives and it's rainy, cold, gray. Crap. I'll be glad when I can stop writing about the weather and yes, I know you will too!

Last week was our school talent show. Dress rehearsal was Wednesday night and I had been enlisted to give two little 4th graders a ride there since their parents work and couldn't. Dress rehearsal was exactly what it was supposed to be: a chance to work all the bugs out so the real show would go off without a hitch. And mostly it did. I wanted to go Thursday night because I knew the staff was performing to Thriller and couldn't wait to see them. They didn't disappoint. The staff number is always performed last because it always brings down the house! They were awesome.

They had definitely done some shopping at Goodwill or Salvation Army and their costumes were great! The next day at school the whole show is performed again for all the kids/staff who couldn't attend but it's never as good as the real show. The staff did dress up but not with full makeup and hair. The kids loved it!

I'm having mixed emotions on the next topic. Good news, bad news. Tyler received his travel/work Visa on Friday and he will be on his way to South Korea on Wednesday, April 28. How exciting for him. A new job, new country, whole new world. He's busy packing and selling off the last few items he has to his name like his desk top computer and bed. I'll be worrying about him until I hear from him again and the worst part is I don't know when that will be. His cell phone won't be working and he won't have access to a computer unless he can find an internet cafe or borrow someone's. I'm just hoping it doesn't take him too long to do that. He still has a few logistics to figure out. He will be arriving there around 10:00 at night and doesn't know if he will be going straight to his apartment or maybe have to stay in a hotel that first night. He tells me that there is an orientation and training period for the first week or so and won't actually be in his school for a while. Rather I should say his "schools". He will be going between two elementary schools. The area he is going to is a seaport in the far south of Korea and it sounds like a nice area, a little warmer than Seoul and cities to the north. I know he will be happy about that since he's so used to warm weather after 3 years of living in paradise.

Please keep Tyler in your thoughts as he travels to Korea and begins this exciting new chapter in his life!

The rest of the weekend has been spent doing the usual, laundry, cooking dog food and dog cookies. I managed to take the pups to the high school soccer field for a little while yesterday between rain showers. They really enjoyed getting out and running. Charlie heard some random noise and took off for a little while but he eventually came to his senses and came back after a few minutes.

Goofball.

Last night around 11:00 I opened my Yahoo email, an account I only look at every few days and there was an email from one of my Bunco girls saying an acquaintance of ours had passed away unexpectedly. I had received a call from my bowling partner, Judy, Thursday night, a message I didn't check until Friday morning and when I tried to call her back Friday night there was no answer so I left messages. At that same time she was apparently attending his viewing and the funeral was Saturday morning so I missed it all unfortunately. When I talked to Judy this morning she said he had a cold recently, nothing more, but apparently had died from a massive heart attack. So sad. He was only 52 with a lovely wife and two kids, well, young adults really, one 22 and the other 20. Such a nice family and such a shame. I definitely need to get my Bunco girls my current email address!

So, there's the week in review. I'm taking another "mental health" day later this week. The weather man says the sun will be out that day and I'm definitely going to try to enjoy it! I hope to get out to the garden to see if this rain has helped my potatoes and onions.

Updates and Spring stuff...

So, yes, we are back from our nice Spring Break. We left Virginia around 9:00 last Saturday morning and figured we would just go back the way we came. I didn't have a very good map but we did have our good buddy, Aussie Garmin. About the time we were getting ready to head into the Pennsylvania mountains we saw a sign that said Interstate 68 - The National Freeway. I had a general idea of where it went but we had never been that way but decided to take a chance, figuring it couldn't be worse that those pesky Pennsylvania mountains. Aussie Garmin didn't like that route and kept trying to redirect us. The map I had wasn't too specific either but for just having a general idea we did pretty good. We even got off the Interstate for a while after West Virginia and took some scenic, winding State Roads. I love travelling that way. It really lets you look at how people live instead of just seeing walls and boring stuff. One town we went through in West Virginia went right through the middle of town and something I had never seen before. They lowered the speed, on the Interstate, to 40 mph through this section of town. It felt so weird!! The route took us south of PA into West Virginia and was really quite pleasant and not heavily traveled. While there were some nice hills and at time they got pretty steep, they didn't seem as curved as the ones through PA and the scenery was much prettier. Look at these lovely hills.

And the Redbud trees were in full bloom and lined the highway from time to time.

We ended up getting home around 8:30 that night which was pretty good time, at least as good as we made on the trip over and the sights were much nicer.

Sunday after we got home I walked around the yard and saw some sights of Spring right here in MI. My daffodils had bloomed while we were gone.


And so had the Hyacinths.



My peonies were also trying to come up and my roses had already sprouted. I had to hurry up and cut them back because they still had their winter dead wood on there. While I was out front trimming I spied this little fluff of what I thought was bunny fur and then noticed the ground moving a little.



Sure enough, a couple days later when I went to check, this is what I saw!

There are at least 4, maybe 5, couldn't tell for sure. They are right in the front yard in a flower bed and not hidden very well. I worried about them for several days. Worried that some stray dog or cat or worse would come along and ruin their bunny cuteness. This morning when H came in from getting the newspaper he informed me that the bunnies had flown the nest. It didn't look like there had been a struggle or anything bad had happened. I'm picturing Mama just leading them into the woods where they will now be safe. Yep, Spring has definitely sprung here in Michigan.

Not much else is new around here, little things here and there. H put the insurance back on the Mustang and took it out last weekend to "blow out the cobwebs" as he says. We also took it for a little ride yesterday but this weekend was too cool to put the top down. We had one beautiful day, Thursday, where the weather zoomed up to 80! It was wonderful and I decided that it would be a good day to take a "mental health" day from work. So I did. And it was wonderful. Loved it! Unfortunately the beautiful weather didn't last into the weekend. It was gray and chilly both days.

Thursday night was our first meeting at the Community Garden. Basically the Master Gardener just talked about what's new for this year, what we could plant now, what's going to happen this year. They have big plans. The deer fencing will be further away from the garden which will be great for me. One of my plots is on the end so the electric fencing was pretty close to me last year. Now I'll be able to get to my plot from 3 sides which will be nice. Howard and I went out to the garden today and I planted my onions and some potatoes, a couple lettuce plants and the only two broccoli plants that were left at the nursery. I'm hoping to get more soon. The rest of the plants will have to wait another month, at least a little closer to Memorial Day, but I'm getting excited!

Friday night was bowling and thankfully Bill was able to join us this week. We bowled pretty well the first game. I bowled a 176 that game and we ended up winning that one and bumping our points up pretty good. They won the second game, only by 7 though. They won the last one too, can't remember by how much, but not enough to take totals so we split the points, two each. We are in the top 5 but not sure exactly where. Next bowling is position night and that will decide where we end up. After that it will be one more bowling, Fun Night, and then it's over for this season.

I took the pups up to the high school field both days this weekend. They hadn't been since last Sunday so they were so excited to go. When we went last Sunday, thankfully I had them on leash because we had to park in the parking lot, across the street from the field, because just as we got on the grass Charlie spotted a deer that was sprinting across the soccer field. I watched it run behind the trees and off into the woods and thankfully, because Charlie has such a short memory, by the time we got to the field he had forgotten all about it!


In other news, Amber and Quinn had a tough week last week. It was the first week of Quinn's day care and well, let's just say, it wasn't perfect. She didn't sleep much and Amber said she seemed dazed at the end of the day when she picked her up (probably from lack of sleep). Thankfully by the end of the week things seemed to be going a little better.

Tyler seems to be in the final stages in finally getting this job in South Korea. He's been accepted for the position and is now just waiting for the Visa from the Korean government. He has been selling off his possessions since he can't take more with him than a couple suitcases. They are talking about a travel date of April 28, which is now under 2 weeks! Yikes!! What an exciting time for him. He's going to be getting his first job since graduation, moving to a foreign country, where he knows no one. Ok, when I say it that way it actually sounds a little scary. My baby going to a foreign country, where he knows NO ONE!! I better hurry up and update my passport, just in case. Seriously, we are so proud of you Tyler and excited for you. I just hope you keep in touch with us better than you have while you've been in Hawaii! And you've got to take some pictures! Promise!! Maybe you should start a blog! Just think about it.

Scott is getting ready to finish up his semester. He has finals this week and then he's done. He's been working every angle he can to figure out a way to move into his own apartment. Well, every angle except getting a full time job to pay for it. Guess he doesn't want to be too busy working to enjoy the place. We'll see what happens. Part of me wants him to move out because I think it will be a good experience for him. He's 21 after all and needs to see what it's like to be all grown up and take care of himself. The other part of me worries about him. With his diabetes I just worry that something will happen and no one will be there to help him. Things are better now that he has the pump but I still worry. Things happen. I'm trying not to worry but hey, it's what mother's do.

So, there's the update. Nothing much happening really, just life. But check back soon. You never know when something exciting WILL happen. It could happen any time, any day. Maybe tomorrow. Or the next day.

Have a good week!!

Spring Break 2010

So, once the excitement of Sunday/Easter passed, what else have we been doing?

Monday was mostly spent around the house with a few side-shopping trips. Amber and I took Quinn to Target but she was quick to express her dislike of the fluorescent lights. Once Amber picked her up she cried for a bit but then fell asleep so we could finish our shopping.

On Tuesday we decided to head out to the mall so Amber could look for some work clothes. Here's where Quinn and her Granddaddy passed the time while Mommy and Mimi went into a few stores.


It was a sad day on Wednesday when Amber had to go back to work. Here's how we spent the morning, trying to keep Quinn happy and not missing her Mommy too much.


Thankfully Amber forgot something she needed to pump milk so she had to make a quick trip home and had a little Quinn time, then it was back to work.

The rest of the day was uneventful and Mommy hurried home as soon as she could.

It's been unseasonably hot here in Virginia. Yesterday was almost 90 degrees so we didn't go out. Today was a little cooler so Granddaddy H and I decided to take a little walk down to a nearby shopping center. We decided to grab lunch at Subway but opted to take it home instead of eating it there since Quinn can be a bit unpredictable when the stroller actually stops, even if she seems sound asleep at the time.



The walk home was pleasant and it was so nice seeing all the beautiful trees in bloom. Spring here in Virginia is certainly WAY ahead of Spring in Michigan. The grass is green and growing, tulips are pretty much done blooming, trees are full of flowers, bees are buzzing. Nice!




One more day of Grandbabysitting, tomorrow.

Monday Quinn will be going to Amber's work on-site day care. She'll be nice and close and can run over and see her at lunchtime and spend a little quality time with her. I know she's really been missing her these last few days.

Who wouldn't miss this face??

Happy Easter and other exciting news!

Happy Easter to family and friends. We arrived safely at Amber & Andy's last night around 6:30 after a non-eventful 10 hour drive through Ohio and the mountains of Pennsylvania. Thankfully the weather was perfect for driving.

This morning we were up and out early. We headed for church around 8:30 and the place was pretty crowded. Andy told us that this church, Mount Olivet Methodist, was used as an army hospital during the civil war.

After about 1/2 hour Quinn decided she was bored with the whole church thing so she and I spent the rest of the hour outside enjoying the beautiful spring sunshine. Ok, after 20 minutes of crying we texted Mommy to hurry out to join us.

From church we drove in to Washington, DC and after a few starts and stops finally found a parking spot. Since the Cherry trees were all in bloom, downtown DC was a very popular place with tourists and locals alike.

These beautiful tulips were on our walk on the way to the White House.

First we walked down by the White House for a picture op.






We were heading down the street next to the White House but were turned back by the Police. Apparently something was going on there and everyone was being asked to leave the park directly across the street from the White House. We walked along until we came to the Washington Monument and noticed the police were stopping traffic and something was getting ready to come down the street.


Next thing we knew the police on motorcycles were coming first, then a few other black SUV's, probably secret service, then a limo, and then this limo!!

Apparently the first family was heading off to church. I couldn't believe the entourage that followed. It included an ambulance, a film crew and some military vehicles. It must have been at least 10+ vehicles. So exciting!! We just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

From there we headed down to the Tidal Basin to view the majority of the cherry blossoms. It was pretty crowded down there but we still managed to get a few pics.





We were a long way from the car by then so we made our way back and along the way I spotted these cute little Aussies. Looks like one is a miniature and one a toy. Made me miss my own fur kids a bit though I'm sure Scott is taking really good care of them.




When we got home it was time to change Quinn into her casual Easter outfit and take some pics with her Easter basket.


She's such a cutie. We all ate a quick lunch and decided it was nap time.

Amber made a great meal, ham, scalloped potatoes, salad and corn bread and it was so nice out we ate it out on the balcony of their condo.

Now we are all relaxed and Quinn has gone down for another nap. Guess all that fresh air and sunshine made her extra tired today.

Amber has two more days of maternity leave left and then H and I are on our own with Quinn the rest of the week. I'm really hoping we can keep her happy while Amber is at work. Fingers crossed!