It's been a busy weekend!! It started with Friday night bowling. We picked Judy up and were waiting for Bill when we got a call that he was getting stitches in his hand and would be a couple minutes late. Thankfully the other team was kind enough to let him catch up when he got there though they were probably cursing that decision since we ended up taking all 4 points from them! Bill ended up with 3 stitches in his thumb up where it joins the hand so didn't really get in the way of bowling though it did continue to bleed all through the 3 games. But hey, we still won all 4 points which we really needed since we were in 10th place! I didn't bowl well at all due to this stupid shoulder pain I've been having. All 3 games were under my average of 135. Oh well, thankfully my team rocked!!
It ended with a nice hour of Trick or Treating and sitting on the porch handing out our big bowl of candy. But there was so much more!!
Cookie (people) baking, H's complaints finally got to me so I baked him cookies first so he wouldn't complain about the rest of the baking!
More cookie (dog) baking, Complete with dogs under foot, waiting for said cookies to fall on the floor or for the people to finally give them one since they are looking so pitiful.
A trip to the park (and they were so happy)
Sunday trip to the park, more happiness,
This was so funny! He had it over his eyes and was running in my general direction but was about to run past me when I called his name and he did a quick turn towards me!
It was quite a dreary afternoon but every great once in a while the sun poked out, but not while we were at the field and it was quite chilly!!
After dropping the pups off at home I headed out to the garden. It's been so long since I've been out there I can't even really remember the last time I went. Things looked bleak. The tomatoes were history. Nothing left to do there but pull them out and take my cages home. I harvested everything that was worth saving and surprisingly there was quite a bit. There were quite a few of the hot peppers left and the real shocker was the broccoli. It was still putting out small heads so I harvested those and pulled out the plants. I also pulled the last of the carrots and managed to get a gallon size bag worth. Then I harvested my herbs, Rosemary, Thyme and Parsley. I put the Rosemary in the fridge and dried the Thyme and will probably dry the Parsley too, maybe tomorrow.
Parsley
Rosemary & Broccoli
Peppers (including one bell pepper)
When I got home from the garden there was just enough time to carve the pumpkin and put the candy in the bowl before the Trick or Treaters started arriving.
This little cutie got to enjoy her first Halloween! I hope she didn't eat too much candy! I wouldn't want her to rot out those new little teeth she's getting! So Cute!!
Happy Birthday Andy! And it's a big one too, 30 years old today! This is probably what he looked like just a short time ago, young with hardly a responsibility! He was The King of the World!!
Plenty of free time to enjoy life!
Time to sit around on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy a beer or two.
Then his world turned upside down.
There were a few sleepless nights (though he doesn't always remember them).
And this will probably be his happiest Birthday yet!
Happy Birthday Andy! Hope you find time to enjoy life and your beautiful family! May this be your best year yet!! How could it not be when he has this to come home to every day???
I had a really nice 3 day weekend in Virginia. I had hoped to return to Michigan on Monday but due to a miscommunication between me and my Principal, I had to change my return flight and come hone Sunday night instead of Monday afternoon. One thing I found out as a result, Sunday night is the busiest travel night in Detroit of any day. Apparently everyone is trying to prolong their return to the Big D until the last possible moment. It was a madhouse in the parking garage trying to find a ride back to find my car. Finally when the third van arrived I was one of the first to reach it and jumped in the front seat before anyone else could get to it!
Friday morning's flight was totally uneventful. The drive to the airport, however, wasn't quite as easy. I took the route I usually take, a surface street, 4 lanes, that goes straight down to the airport but unbeknownst to me there was construction going on for most of the drive. Finally, after about 1/2 hour in bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic, I called Amber to google me an alternate route. I took a couple wrong turns and had to stop at McDonald's to use the bathroom but I made it with about an hour to spare before my flight left. The only other inconvenience with the flight was that for some reason my seat selection had been cancelled so I had to sit in Row 36 (out of 38) so I was waaaaay at the back of the plane right next to the engine. Thankfully I hadn't checked a bag so I got off fairly quickly and Amber and Quinn picked me up without a problem. I jumped in the back seat with Quinn and at first she was ok but then that lower lip started quivering. In another few minutes she was smiling and everything was fine again.
Except for a quick trip to the park we just hung around the house for the afternoon. It was kind of cool and windy at the park so we didn't stay long. I took a few pics but she was totally out of it, hardly smiled at all. This next one was about the only one where she cracked a smile. I had to be ridiculous!
Saturday morning we 3 girls headed to Kohl's for a little retail therapy. I had $30 Kohl's cash that I wanted to spend before it expired. We didn't find too much that was worth buying so we quickly found a few things and we were easily home in time for Quinn's nap. While she was sleeping Amber and I went to get pedicures. I really needed one but the woman who did mine was really rough and tickled my feet like crazy! The rest of the day was spent hanging out with Quinn, watching her perfect all her new skills like crawling, pulling up on furniture and sitting back down. She has gotten so much bigger in just 5 short weeks. Amber and I also spent a little time cleaning out and organizing her closet. Amber found this Aussie pup I had given her for Christmas a few years back and Quinn had a ball with it. Every time we made it bark she laughed and laughed! I tried to talk Andy & Amber into going out to dinner or a movie but they just wanted to get a pizza and hang out at home. Quinn was in bed before 8:00 and we watched Julie and Julia and I was barely able to stay awake through the whole thing.
Sunday was a beautiful day. The sun was out and it wasn't as windy as Saturday. The weatherman predicted a perfect day for the Zoo. We all ate breakfast and Quinn took her morning nap before we headed out. The best thing about the day was spending time with Quinn and Amber and Andy and being outside on a beautiful Fall day. Here's Quinn (and me) waiting for Amber & Andy to make a quick stop in Starbucks before we hit the zoo.
Oh, here they are now!
First stop, Sloth Bear. He was very slothlike.
The Pandas were supposed to be a big draw but they were mostly hiding behind stuff and if not for my telephoto lens we wouldn't have even been able to see them. We tried from several spots to see the Pandas but they weren't very cooperative either. This was the best I could do. This was probably the best panda shot of the day! Unfortunately the animals weren't really into people looking at them at the zoo. Here are a few pictures I managed to get.
Cute little monkey!! After we left the zoo we walked to a restaurant nearby for lunch and ate outside on the patio. Quinn was fascinated with the pigeons who waited anxiously for any crumbs to drop. When we returned home we girls took a nap though one of us not nearly as long as everyone would have liked. I've never known a baby who can get by on such little sleep. I spent the afternoon trying to get some good video of her for her Uncle Tyler. I feel bad he's missing out on all her growing up and won't get to see her again until she's over a year old. This is the best I can do. I wanted to get her "talking" in so you'll have to forgive Amber & Andy discussing a home improvement they are working on in the background. Guess I should have told them I was filming!! :-)
The trip home was uneventful, other than what I said before about it being such a busy time at the airport. The Reagan airport is fairly small and the gate was pretty packed when I got to it, barely a seat to sit in. I was in Zone 4, the last zone to board and as I learned earlier this year, I never want to be the last to get in line when my zone is called so I got close to the line when Zone 3 was called. Even with doing that, I was one of the last people on the plane in Row 13! How does that happen? Of course I had a window seat and the other two people in my row were already seated so they had to get up and move and wait for me to get settled. Somehow in the process my cell phone fell out of my pocket and disappeared somewhere under the seat. You are so jammed into the seat there is no room to maneuver and look around so I just decided I would wait until the plane landed and try to find the phone then. Of course then I worried about it ringing but then figured if it rang at least I would hear it and could possibly find it and then after all that worrying, remembered it was on vibrate. After all that worrying, about half way through the flight, I felt something hit my foot, slid off my sandal and felt my phone. It had returned to me after all!
Weekends like this make me wish we all lived closer together. Even with getting to see Quinn every month or so it's just too long between visits. Oh well, I have something to look forward to! Hurry up Thanksgiving!!!
So I wrote this post last Monday but the week has been so busy I didn't have time to download and get the pictures on here until today.
We in ESL finally finished giving the MEAP on Thursday. I was the last one. I ended up reading 3rd, 4th and 5th grade Math tests and 5th grade Science and just supervised the 3rd and 4th and 5th grade reading and writing. It really was a busy two week period. Things should return to normal next week except for the dreaded anticipation of Halloween! The kids really start getting wound up by Wednesday and after that, forget it, you aren't getting much out of them! Friday afternoon will be the parties so we won't be getting anything done on that day!
It's cold, gray and raining off and on here this weekend. I have two very disappointed pups. Every time I head toward the back door they get so excited and then realize they aren't going with me.
Speaking of going places, I talked to Tyler briefly last night on Skype and he was heading to Seoul for a few days of training. I guess most of the teachers arrive there in September and go for training now. Even though he's been there since May I guess they figured he needed some training too. Hopefully it will be a nice trip for him and he'll take lots of pictures and update his blog!! (subtle hint)
Not too much else happening around here this weekend. H took my car down to the tire shop today to get some badly needed tires, just in time for winter driving. Even though the car doesn't have 40,000 miles on it yet and it's a 2002, I guess the tires have worn out. I'm glad I don't have to worry about driving those 3-4 miles to work and back every day on bad tires!
I do have to get out to the garden soon and pull everything out but I'm guessing it won't be this weekend as the weather man is predicting more rain for tomorrow. I haven't been out there in weeks so I'm sure most everything is brown and dead by now. I also have about 40 tulip bulbs to get planted before we start getting hard frosts that will make it too hard to dig them in.
Tyler-hope you enjoy the videos of Quinn. She's getting so big!
It was a perfect fall weekend. Some might even call it an Indian Summer weekend. The temps were in the mid 70's, beautiful, clear blue sky and absolutely gorgeous!
I took the pups to the high school field on Saturday just before noon and this is what I was greeted with as I got out of the car!
The trees are beginning to turn and every now and then you get a beautiful shot of fall colors.
The pups were so happy to get out and run. Here they are waiting patiently for me to throw the frisbee and take a couple pics. However, it doesn't last long. Charlie's patience is not what he's known for! In no time he's getting sassy with me!
We played in this field for a while then decided to walk over to what's known as the soccer field. The colors were pretty on this side too!
We played and played, jumps were made (but pictures missed) until everyone was tired and ready to go home!
I caught up on laundry and general chores the rest of the day; nothing exciting. H worked on the window trim again and I think he has finally finished all 6 windows, 3 floors high, on the south side of the house. It's slow work because when is up 3 stories he has to be careful and work slowly. That's a long way to fall off the ladder!
Today I took the pups up to the high school again as it was another beautiful day. I took 2 and almost came home with only 1. We lost Charlie for about 15 minutes today. After playing in the big field (the football practice field) I decided to let them walk through the woods. When we play in this big field they always go to the trail opening in the woods and want to go inside. So I thought today would be a good day to give it a try. We weren't in 30 feet when Charlie's camouflaged fur was blended in to the woods and of course, since he has crap for a recall, he was gone in no time. Zoe stays pretty close to me but after I lost Charlie I wasn't taking any chances and put her on the leash. Usually to help me out when I'm calling him she runs off to get him for me but it was clear, he was nowhere near us so I didn't want to lose her too! We somehow lost the trail and were kind of blindly thrashing our way through the brambles when we finally came out on the other side. I had been calling Charlie's name the whole time with no luck. We walked back toward the football field calling his name all the time. I was just about to call H and Scott and ask them to come help me look for him when he came hauling butt from the football field. When he got to us he barked and barked at us as if to say, "where the hell have you guys been??" I'm just glad he didn't run off further than he did. Sometimes when he gets panicked he just runs off blindly. It was back on the leash for him and straight to the car. I'd had fun enough for one day!
Other than that little excitement and the weather there's not much more going on around here that's worth writing about.
In Virginia there was plenty of excitement. Quinn was baptized today.
Andy's parents and his sister were there for the ceremony.
Amber said Quinn cried when the water was sprinkled on her head! That's so funny because usually she loves water but I guess when some strange guy is sprinkling it on you that's a different story.
This next week is going to be a busy one for me. We have MEAP testing this week which is our state standardized tests for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. Apparently I have to help with the testing for the ESL students at my other school too but I don't know the schedule yet. As if that wasn't enough, we also have two nights of conferences and then I have Bunco Thursday night too! And then on Friday I am jetting off to Virginia to visit my darling Granddaughter and family for a long weekend! We have Friday off for a Developmental Day and I'm taking Monday as one of my non-paid mandatory days. I'm really looking forward to the weekend and seeing how much Quinn has changed in the last 5 weeks. I hear she has 4 new teeth and is crawling!! How fun!
Have a great week! I'll be back with pictures after my weekend visit!
