Virginia Adventures: Part Deux

Ah yes – moving right along to day two. If you know me at all, you have to know that the first thing I did when I got up was go make coffee and head…for the back deck! Since my Dad was off on Friday, he joined me on the deck; we drank coffee and listened to some music (my Game of Thrones soundtrack) while we enjoyed the view. Once my Mom finally woke up..hahaha…we went inside to have waffles for breakfast, because Dad is the king of the waffle maker.

Another gorgeous day – the always gorgeous view.

I was still feeling extra patriotic and it also tasted delicious.

Yum!

Dad got creative.

We all got ready and while the end point for the day was DC, we decided to take the back roads in and see what all we could see on the way. We stopped in a couple small towns along the way – Upperville and Middleburg (right, is that right parents? I can’t remember…) and saw some neat houses, shops and sights.

Hydrangeas in Upperville.

There was a shop that had Civil War (and older) era weaponry. I was fascinated; the sword made me feel very Game of Thrones like, hahaha.

CHARGE!

A cool house…I think this was in Upperville also.

A fox in Middleburg

I should note – foxes are significant to Middleburg because every year they have a fox hunt. I mean, the whole deal: men in riding outfits with red jackets, jodhpurs, on horses with the hounds. Hopefully I’ll get to see it in the future!

Custard on the way to DC – with chocolate flakes and black cherries.

The Capitol!!!

Union Station

The Supreme Court – aka SCOTUS

The main thing we wanted to do while in DC was check out the Library of Congress. I’ve heard it is one of the prettiest buildings in DC and they aren’t kidding. I think every inch of the place is painted, tiled and gilded – it is absolutely gorgeous. I’m not sure what possessed me to wear skinny jeans when it was 92 degrees outside with a heat index of 103 but hey…you get sweaty and keep right on trucking!

This is my “OMG – it’s hot!” face…

The Reading Room in the Library of Congress

The dome of the Reading Room

A quote that I thought you could see but apparently is hard to read in this photo….boo.

Another look at the Reading Room – they only recently started allowing pictures in here.

The Main Hall of the LoC

House Lannister anyone? They even got the colors right; crimson & gold!

On the ceiling – I took this for my friend David.

A last look at the Reading Room!

In DC!

The fountain outside the LoC…so pretty…

I may have also been tempted to get in…it was HOT.

Capitol

A squirrel eating Chex Mix in the park…hahaha!

I found a high-powered fan in the Godiva store – HALLELUJAH!!

The always bustling Union Station…

Crumbs cupcakes – they are delicious!!

Feeds 10-12 people…whoosh!

Once we finished exploring, it was time to head to Nationals stadium for the American pastime – baseball! My parents had gotten us tickets to watch the Washington Nationals play the San Diego Padres and I’m always up for some baseball. Plus – I thought it was especially fun that the Nationals are called the Nats for short; if you have Nationals attitude, you have Natitude and everywhere you looked, Nat was on everything. Which – hello…I’m a Nat!! That was all it took to win me over! I bought a cap, read the roster and decided I’d happily cheer the Nationals to as many curly W’s as I could. By the way, a curly W = a win! And win they did, 8-2! Yahoo!! Once the game was said and done, we headed home to catch some Zzz’s before day three!

Obviously this is the team for me!

Panoramic shot of the stadium…

Getting the field ready to play ball!

Hey batter, batter!

I liked Bryce Harper – he’s basically a 20 year old whiz kid at baseball. Seriously, he’s been playing pro ball for over a year and he won’t be 21 till October. Whoa.

Leaving the stadium after a win for the Nats!

Virginia Adventures: Part One

OK – so I’ll just start this after the horror that was my getting to Virginia, especially since I dedicated an entire post to that. No need to rehash it; especially since there is a second post coming about the horror of getting home. Yeesh!

I was so completely happy to finally see my Momma, to see the car, to see all the landmarks that are becoming more and more familiar with each visit; landmarks that let me know that I’m getting closer and closer to “home”. And oh the joy of seeing home, especially at almost 2 in the morning. Its a pretty wonderful feeling. You know another wonderful feeling? Climbing up the steps and having my Dad stumble half asleep from his bedroom to say “Hey Natalie” and give me a huge hug. Ah – the love of family!

Home Sweet Home…at 2 AM

My room! I love my room at my parent’s house. Love it.

Wildly excited that I finally, finally made it. And was in my blue and green bed.

Nothing starts a day more perfectly than waking up to a view like this one – I think people that live around mountains might take not realize how amazing a view they really are. I get it though; I love the mountains. When I finally make my way to somewhere mountainous to live, I won’t take it for granted. Ever. I love it.

I woke up at 7:45, which is super early considering that I’d only gone to bed at 2…but I was just itching to get outside and stare off into the distance. My Dad was at work and my Momma was still asleep, so I crept downstairs, made coffee and immediately headed for the back deck, where I proceeded to spend a good part of the day. That’s where Mom found me when she got up. Drinking coffee and staring off at the mountains, drinking in the view, the quiet, the calm…and contemplating hollering “fore” at the passing golfers. Just kidding. Maybe.

Ah yes – this is a view I could never get tired of.

Easily the best way to enjoy coffee.

I had to go inside to watch the birds at the feeder…they didn’t take too kindly to me watching from as close as the porch.

My favorite little bird.

After Mom and I had breakfast we set out for Marker Miller Orchard & Farmer’s Market (I think I have the name right…) to see about getting some fruit. I never knew that so much stuff was grown in Virginia, but there were fields of wheat, corn, apple orchards, vineyards…everywhere, something was growing. It was so cool. The Farmer’s Market was awesome and they had anything and everything you could think of: blueberries, strawberries, raspberries (ripe and ready to be picked) blackberries as big as my pinkie, apples, corn, watermelon, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes bigger than my fist, squash, zucchini, cucumbers and the list goes on and on. They also had jams, jellies, spreads, salsas and a slush made from fresh picked strawberries. And don’t even get me started on the gorgeous flowers outside. It was awesome.

Rows on top of rows of apple trees…

I loved it – so cool!

Want some fruit?

This was delicious!

I thought this looked cool as we passed. No clue what it is…

It was July 4th after all…

Definitive proof that grocery stores in VA are better than MS – and this isn’t even Wegmans!!!

Yum.

Absolutely huge blackberries from Marker Miller…

Seriously – they were massive.

A whoopie pie from Marker Miller – I shared it with Mom & Dad because it was huge. Also, it was delicious.

A quick little afternoon rain shower…that I almost got caught in…

Once Mom and I got home from the Farmer’s Market and Martin’s (the grocery store) I proceeded to sit on the back deck again, listening to Lindsey be the DJ on USAFA’s radio station KAFA. Mom and I sat outside, ate fresh fruit and cheese and just chilled. It was great! When Dad came home, we fired up the grill and fixed our Fourth of July feast!

Love it. Just love it.

Trying to get some sun on my pale legs…

The master of the grill…hard at work.

Orange Soda…which I just now realized I never got to taste. Boo.

The Fourth of July feast…prepared by Dad, Mom and me!

Using our festive cups to drink some sweet tea!

Once supper was done, we stopped in at Wal Mart to grab a couple things – we being me, because I left my liquids sitting in the front seat of my car, like a goofball. We saw Jennie and Jimmy in Wal Mart and talked to them a little while; I loved seeing Jimmy’s little sun-burned cheeks, they might have made him even cuter! We got the few things we needed and then headed into Strasburg to get a spot for the fireworks. We all read a little bit while we passed the time and then at 9:30, the sky lit up with color for almost thirty minutes. Awesome! When that was all said and done, we made our way to the car, made our way home and I went to bed pretty quickly because I knew Friday held even more awesome.

Reading to pass the time…what a laugh! 🙂

Sun sets over the mountain – Signal Knob to be exact.

Fireworks! Fireworks!

Go USA!

Flying the Friendly Skies…

Okay – maybe I should have titled this something else, but I’m going for tongue in cheek. Ironic. Whatever you want to call it. What was meant to be just two short little hops from Jackson to Atlanta and then Atlanta to DC turned into a majestic load of crazy, anxious, spastic hours on three planes; one of which never went anywhere. Let me start at the beginning though…because nothing about this story is short and even the skies weren’t feeling so friendly last night.

I got to Jackson in plenty of time; even had the time to stop at the Subway and grab a sandwich to take on the plane for supper, my connection in Atlanta only gave me about 55 minutes to get from one gate to the other. I got through security (which was just delightful since I got a full body pat-down because I was wearing a dress – whatever) just fine and settled in to wait for boarding. And that’s when the fun began.

I noticed that neither of the Delta gates actually had my flight number listed on their departure board, so I asked the man seating near me if he was meant to be on the flight leaving at 6:45 for Atlanta. He said that he was supposed to be on the flight that left at 1:10 going to Atlanta but he was still stuck sitting in Jackson. Eek! Cue the alarm bells in my head. Right then, I heard a ping from my phone and looked down to see an email from Delta: my flight out of Jackson had been bumped back to 8:05 with an arrival into Atlanta at 10:38….which meant I definitely wasn’t making my 10 PM connecting flight. Cue the panic.

I spoke with a gate attendant (after waiting in line behind about ten people) and knew with every person in front of me that he was going to give away the last ticket…but he didn’t. He handed me a ticket to the flight leaving at 6:15 and told me to go board it immediately. I thanked him for his help and rushed down to the gate and onto the plane. I got settled in and decided to go ahead and eat my Subway while they finished loading and we took off. But…we sat there…and sat there…and sat there. Finally they announced that their was a technical problem with the plane they had brought in to replace the earlier plane; which also had technical problems.

So many tickets….

On Plane #2; the first plane I actually got on, the second flight I’d been booked on and the flight I also got right back off of. Confused yet? Me too.

At this point – people were getting pissed. I was getting pretty stressed myself because my window to make my connecting flight was getting smaller and smaller and my heart rate was going up and up and up. The people on the flight with me were fussing (yelling if I’m being honest) that the stewardess should give them alcohol as well and not reserve it for the people in first class alone. There was cussing, shouting and people just being downright rude. I understand the frustration but I also don’t understand people who immediately jump to acting crazy; it only makes you look worse.

They trooped all of us off the plane, divided us into two lines and gave us new tickets on the plane at the other Delta gate, also going to Atlanta. I was then told that if I got to Atlanta and missed my flight into Dulles, there was a flight leaving at 10:40 going into Reagan and I could try to get on that flight. We all boarded the plane and finally, finally at around 8:20 we took off from Atlanta. I was already trying to tell myself that I just needed to be prepared to probably end up in Atlanta for the night. I wasn’t looking forward to that thought very much but I further believed that would be the outcome when the pilot told us we’d be landing in Atlanta at 10:30. I would definitely miss my flight leaving at 10 and there was no way I’d make it to the gate for the flight leaving at 10:40. I was getting pretty despondent but trying to tell myself it could be much worse.

A side note here – I guess either I’m getting pretty good at this whole flying thing or I was just too stressed about making connections but the flight from Jackson to Atlanta was ROUGH. I don’t think I really realized that until later when I was on my other flight but I guess I was so preoccupied with making my other flight that I rode most of that flight hunched over in a ball, clutching my other boarding pass and praying that somehow, someway, something would work out and I would get onto a flight. I wanted my parents, I wanted my blue and green bed and I wanted my mountains.

When we landed in Atlanta, my Mom called to tell me my original flight had been pushed back to 11:10 and it was only 4 gates down from where the flight I was on was coming in. When I tell you I was running through that airport like I was being chased – I am not even remotely exaggerating. I was flying down the terminal, my bag rolling behind me at breakneck speed and just praying I didn’t drop anything because I knew that would be all it would take. One slip-up would be the piece that caused the possibility of making this flight all fall apart.

I rushed to the desk and was told I’d made it in plenty of time – the flight had just parked at the gate and they’d be boarding shortly. I handed my boarding pass to the attendant to make sure that everything was okay and she told me “Oh, you don’t have a seat on this flight anymore.” WHAT? Oh yes – apparently since I was on a flight that would be late and it seemed like I wouldn’t make my connection, my seat had been forfeited and now I would have to be put on stand-by and hope that I made it on. Y’all – I broke down at this point. I was clutching my stand-by seat ticket like it was the only thing left in the world. I called my Mom crying and told her that I was on stand-by and might not make this flight and the attendant had told me that I’d been booked for a flight on the 4th leaving at 2:20 in the afternoon. I wasn’t okay with that at all. She told me I’d probably be fine and get on the plane…but I was just about exhausted from all the anxiety.

The perks of First Class

Hello legroom!

Somehow I was the first name on the stand-by list and after about 10 minutes of being stressed to the point that I thought my head (and heart) would explode, the attendant called my name and handed me a ticket stamped with 1A. I was so completely thrilled that I had made the flight that I strolled right past my seat and back to coach before it hit me that 1A was the first seat on the plane – in First Class. I’ve never flown First Class before and after the four hours I’d had earlier, it was amazing. I might be spoiled now. I curled up in my seat and snapped my seat belt on; mostly to let them know that once I’d clicked that seat belt shut, I wasn’t getting off the plane until we were at Dulles. My second flight was smooth and so much calmer. I wrapped up in my Delta blanket, read a book, drank some coffee and ate a banana. We landed at 1 AM and even though I was completely exhausted, I wanted to kiss the ground. I’d made it. After thinking on numerous occasions throughout the night that I wouldn’t make it – I was here.

While I was flying high last night in First Class, it got me to thinking. I spent five hours in a near constant state of anxiety and in the end, I got exactly where I was supposed to be and it turned out better than I thought it would. There were certainly bumps along the way (literally and figuratively) and times when I thought things would never work out – but they did. I feel like my life every day is like that – I worry and wonder how and when anything is every going to work out and that when it does, it won’t be that great. When I was sitting in that First Class seat last night, it was almost like Jesus tapped me on the shoulder and said “see – trust me. If I was able to work out something as simple as your flights and make it turn out better than you expected, don’t you think I can do all that and more with your life?”

Something to think about for sure. Anyway – gotta go celebrate the Fourth!

I have never been so glad to see Dulles.

Wednesday Wrap-Up

This is going to be short and sweet – mostly because the past three days have been pretty short and sweet. My work week is going to wrap up today at 4 and then I’ll be Jackson bound to catch a flight to Virginia, by way of Atlanta. Whew! It’s crazy to think that this morning I woke up in Collinsville and by the end of the day (literally, the end – my flight arrives in Virginia at 11:46 tonight) I’ll be going to bed in Viriginia.

What would our ancestors have said if we’d told them we would have the capability to wake up in one place and go to sleep at the end of the day hundreds of miles away? I’m sure they’d have been astonished; heck, sometimes I find myself pretty impressed with it all. Anyway, here are a couple pictures from the beginnings of this short “week”.

This was Sunday night & wouldn’t load on Monday – he wanted to go to church.

Let me just tell you – Watson takes Sunday afternoon napping very seriously. There were several pictures that I couldn’t get to load on Monday morning, so they’ve made their way onto today’s post and a lot of them of are Watson, napping all over the house on Sunday afternoon. He has quite the routine worked out on Sundays; he plays all morning while I’m at church, eats lunch when I get home, takes in some sun on the porch for a little while, then comes in and naps – naps in his bed, naps on the couch, naps on the rug, naps on the guest bed…he just sleeps all over the place, all afternoon. He’s a mess.

Nap Spot #1

Nap Spot #2

Monday I went to Ross with the quest of finding a large but cute purse to carry on the plane. I wanted something that could hold a book, a magazine and my other things without looking stuffed to busting, but I also didn’t want a shapeless piece of fabric and leather. The Lord was shining down on my purse hunt, because I found a gorgeous Steve Madden bag that is not only so cute, but is exactly what I was looking for. Everyone at the office has exclaimed over it and essentially told me I stink because I found such a cute purse. Oh well – if I stink, I guess that’s fine. At least I have my awesome new purse.

The drive-thru at Chick Fil A Monday – I was hoping they were handing out samples. They weren’t.

Nap Spot #3 – on Monday evening.

The awesome new purse! I love it!

Strawberry cobbler at lunch on Tuesday – it was delicious!

Watson also always catches on to when I am packing – and I usually get lots of mean looks and he immediately starts moping. I did get one look last night while I was packing but that was about it. This morning he sniffed and licked my suitcase, but when I left he was happily running around the yard. Hopefully he’ll have a good time “vacationing” at my Nanny’s house while I am vacationing in Virginia.

This face says “you’re flying off again & I still don’t get to go. Gee, thanks a lot!”

What I’ve been watching this week in my spare time – which there hasn’t been much of.

Well – that’s about it. I’m all checked-in, the bags are packed, the phone/tablet are charged and ready to provide amusement (although I’m thinking a nap would be good amusement too) and I’ve got the chill pills in the purse so that I can fly like a pro.

Which – let me tell you; I discovered when talking to my Mom that spanning a year, from August of last year to August of this year I will have flown seven times! Seven! That seems pretty jet-set for someone who is “afraid” to fly. If you’re reading this, I always appreciate prayers for a safe flight! Hope everyone has a great 4th!

What I’m Into in July

Want a little glimpse into my life this month? 🙂

Books I’m Reading/Plan to Read:
The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillippa Gregory: I needed something to read and I had to break myself away from my A Song of Ice and Fire books – you can only read something so many times. I’ve read this before but it was back when I was a Junior at USM, so it’s been awhile. I love the way the book is written and as a huge history nerd I’ve always been intrigued by the lives of the people that came before us; in this case Tudor England and the court of Henry the 8th – was the court of Henry the 8^th really as scandalous as it’s made out to be? If so, isn’t that fascinating? If not, where did they come up with all this stuff?

A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet by Sophie Hudson: I haven’t started on this one yet but I read her blog pretty frequently and it always cracks me up. The reviews for it were all 5 star and since I’m pretty sure the book will be in the same vein as her blog, it has to be hilarious. Plus, I bought it as an Ebook and with a leftover gift card balance from Christmas (yes really, from 7 months ago) it was only $7! What a deal! I may be reading this on my plane rides. We will see. I’m counting on this book for laughter.

I hope this is funny…but I have a good feeling it will be.

Under the Dome by Stephen King: This one right here might be a mistake – only time will tell. I haven’t even  bought it yet but I saw the first episode of the TV show they have made from this book and I’m really intrigued. Granted, since it is written by Stephen King there is an element of horror to the book and I might end up being too scared to read the whole thing – but I doubt it. Plus, I’m a firm believer that the book is almost always better than the movie/TV show.

Can’t Miss Television:
Under the Dome: As I mentioned above, this was a random find. They have been advertising this show for weeks and weeks…I almost got sick of it, but the advertisements must have subliminally done their job, because I DVR’ed the show and after one episode, I’m hooked. The premise is that out of nowhere, a huge dome sat down on this small town – the people inside can’t get out and have no contact with the people on the outside. Where did the dome come from? What’s going on? Will they all turn to cannibals once the food runs out? I don’t know…I’ve got to keep watching now though.

The Tudors: I had to bust this set out again after seeing Man of Steel; you see, I was on to Henry Cavill long before he had on Superman’s tights. I was watching him when he had on a whole different kind of tights; Tudor England style tights. This show is all about Henry the 8^th and his court; all the scandal, deceit, and mystery that took place at his court and how his passions and hot-headedness changed the course of an entire nation. It’s amazing to think that one person can have such a profound effect on a whole nation – and again, was this what life at his court was really like? Because if so – wow. Talk about living like a rock star.

The costumes alone are fantastic….

True Blood: Well, we are three episodes in at this point and so far I’m actually not hating thise season! Last season was so absolutely nuts that I really worried how the show would recover but thus far, it hasn’t been so bad. They seem to be tying up the crazy loose ends and veering back onto a path that is less nuts. Granted, its a show about vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters and fairies…so nuts is kind of a part of the charm. Developments that I like: that the fairies seem to be phasing out, (just too weird for me) anything involving Jessica is always pretty fun to watch and of course, Eric. Eric is always great. Developments I don’t like: Alcide become semi-villanous, the crazy girl harassing Sam about being a shifter and Bill acting so high and mighty; seriously Bill, get over yourself.

Movies I’ve Watched:
Man of Steel: Which was AMAZING! I think I’ve mentioned that about a hundred times since I saw it. Which, I’ve seen it twice. I know – I might have a problem. If so, I am completely okay with it. When they initially cast Henry Cavill I was still in the midst of watching Smallville, which I’d been hooked on for its 10 year run and I could not understand how anyone but Tom Welling could be Superman – but I get it now. Cavill owns this role and Amy Adams is amazing as Lois Lane. The action is off the wall crazy, but appropriately so. I can’t wait to see where the sequel goes; because the sequel has already been green lit! Yes!

Be still my heart – love this movie.

This is the End: Oh – I don’t even know where to go with this one. The previews looked funny; in that way that stupid is funny. And I got exactly what I bargained for; stupid funny. It was funny but there were parts of it that were so insanely crazy or stupid that I just had to laugh because really, what other option was there? The ending was easily the best part – not only because it meant the movie was over but because there was a “heavenly” dance break from the Backstreet Boys. My lesson from this one: when your best friend tells you to turn your brain off before the movie starts, you probably don’t really want to be watching it. Lesson learned.

Music I’ve Listened to:
Where We Left Off by Hunter Hayes: Again, loving some Hunter Hayes music and this is a song from the soundtrack to Act of Valor. I’ve never seen the movie but the song is really beautiful and is about having a relationship that can endure time apart and then pick right back up, without missing a beat. The songs I’m listening to right now all have a theme…I’ll let you figure it out.

Gone Gone Gone by Phillip Phillips: Well, the title alone might give away the theme of all the songs I’ve listened to. My best friend text me the title of this song and informed me that it was “our” song for when I did move to Virginia. So of course, I proceeded to listen to it and cry like a complete sap. It is a really good song though – so maybe even if you aren’t(potentially) headed in a new direction, check it out. Everyone needs good music.

Yummy in My Tummy:
Cinnamon Roll Coffee – bought this while my family was in town a few weeks ago and it was one of the best purchases to date. It is absolutely delicous and the smell is also pretty good.

Mean Green Smoothie – my Spinach super smoothie that is continuing to blow my mind; mostly because I’m actually drinking it and enjoying it. It’s been my breakfast for the past two days and seeing how people in the office reacted to me sucking up what essentially looks like toxic sludge (sorry, but its true) has been pretty funny. I think they all think I’ve lost it. To that I say, who says I ever had it?

Banana Bread/Cherry Bread – I think I must have baked 3 times in the month of June; not sure if I’ll keep it up in July since I’m really trying to knuckle down with the fitness and eating healthier and I’m just not sure if bread is the wisest of choices – even when it is made with bananas and cherries.

Happiness is:Spending time with my friend(s) – I have big plans to meet up with a couple friends from college that I haven’t seen in a while in this month of July and I can’t wait. One of them I haven’t seen for months, the other I haven’t seen in over a year. Friends are one of life’s best blessings and I can’t wait to spend time with my friends and catch up.

Anticipation – and that’s all I’ll say for now.

What I’m Looking Forward to in July:

Jetting off to Virginia for a short little summer vacation – it may only be for about 3 and a half days but my parents already have oodles of things planned: visiting the Farmer’s Market on Thursday morning, grilling for the 4th and watching fireworks, a Washington Nationals game on Friday night and exploring Antietam Battlefield on Saturday with yet another fireworks show on Saturday night. Oh – and proof I’m totally turning into a nerd; I found a 5 page scavenger hunt for Antietam and I’m suddenly all over it. I may not have been interested when I was younger Dad, but congratulations, you’ve successfully created a history nerd.

Burnside Bridge at Antietam Battlefield – I’m coming to see you!

As mentioned above – spending time with my friends. I’m sure I’ll do more than just get together with those 2 friends I’ve not seen in a while but if that’s all I do, that will be fine too. Getting together with friends is always worth looking forward to!

Getting a pedicure – I have a gift certificate from Christmas that I was given as my office present. The coupon expires at the end of July, so I guess I’d better get on going to get that pedi done. I’m thinking it will be the first thing on the list for the weekend of the 13th!

The Longest Week…

Well – I don’t know about y’all but this week was long. I mean, I should probably capitalize that word – Long. I have noticed a pattern though; it doesn’t matter how fast or slow the work week passes, the weekend will always fly by. Monday through Friday crawled by at the pace of a snail, each day, each hour passing like the slow flow of molasses oozing from a tree trunk. Each hour passed with the tedious drip, drip, drip of time until by Friday afternoon I thought I’d go mad if the clock didn’t switch to five.

I feel like this week will start in much the same pattern – when you’re anticipating something, the clock always manages to creep along. I suppose we’ll see just how long it can take three days to pass; and I know that once I get to Virginia the following four days will become a blur, because time flies when you’re having fun!

Stepping back though – we have an office mascot! I think he is the most awesome thing ever (as long as he is on the outside of the glass) and love when the lizard comes to visit. My office mate swears that it gives her anxiety attacks but I’m thoroughly thrilled with it. Especially because it makes my office mate squirm – I need an extra laugh or two every once in a while.

The office lizard – he needs a name.

Cherry Limeade Sparkler from Taco Bell – this thing had a wicked kick. Yikes.

My co-worker’s son; he is three and was schooling me in Angry Birds on Tuesday afternoon.  I mean, literally. Who knew a three year old could be so good at this?

Tuesday at work I had stumbled upon a recipe that made me drool just looking at it on the page – bacon wrapped BBQ chicken tenders. I did a whole post on those and let me tell you what, they were delicious. I walked on the treadmill like the dutiful girl that I am but with every step I knew I was closer to getting done and cooking some finger-lickin chicken. And that is exactly what I did. Trust me, I completely get the irony of walking for 45 minutes and then cooking a supper with bacon and barbeque sauce and cheese. I also got over the irony and tore it up. Ha!

Of course, this one wanted a bite.

So. Stinking. Good.

Wearing my rainbow jewelry on Wednesday – gotta love it.

Rocking his new Snoopy collar on Wednesday morning after a bath on Tuesday night.

Ah Superman – you’re looking awfully good to have been around for 75 years.

Oh the adventures – I promise, long ago I wasn’t nearly as clumsy and klutzy as I’ve apparently become. I was putting away dishes on Wednesday night and I put a red ceramic bowl into the cabinet, just plopped it down and turned around to say something to the dog. It happened almost in slow motion, just like you see things happen on TV or in commercials; I saw the bowl slip off the shelf, hit the counter and spin sideways into the floor and all I could do was brace for impact. And impact it did, with a loud crash that resulted in pieces of bowl going all over the place. Watson tore out of the kitchen like he was being chased and I jumped back and hollered – I’m sure to be a fly on the wall would have been pretty funny.

Having a dog though, again I think it’s similar in some ways to having a kid. As soon as Watson decided he wasn’t going to be smacked on the head by falling ceramics, he crept back into the kitchen to check things out – which meant I kept having to tell him “back up, if you step on this you’ll get hurt, please move!” And like a little kid, he only barely listened – until I poked my finger on a shard of glass and hollered again, then he moved away. It was barely pricked but it bled like I’d tried to take off the end of my finger. Good grief. After the band-aids and pills fell out of the cabinet too, I just decided it was time to give up and go to bed before I hurt myself worse. I’m telling you – too much excitement. 😉

The hazards of being clumsy.

Something large and feline decided my car would be a good place to hang out.

Office lizard!

On Thursday, my friend Kristen came to visit and we decided we would take it upon ourselves to investigate what might have left the giant tracks on my car during the night Wednesday. We joked that we were doing CSI: Animal Edition and used out smart phones and a tape measure to check some things out. What did we learn? The prints on my car were about 3 and ½ inches wide, which according to the interweb means that it is a cougar. I don’t know about that – the most recent cougar sighting near MS has been in LA. It’s not impossible but we decided it was probably a large bobcat.

Either way – I know those were some big footprints! Once we decided it was a bobcat, we read up on them and discovered they are nocturnal and crepuscular; do you know what that means? I didn’t until Thursday night. I now know that means they roam/hunt in the hours of dawn and twilight as well as into the night. We decided to scoot back inside, taking Watson with us and we locked it up and settled in to watch movies. No sign of the creeping cat on Friday morning but it was fun to speculate as to what might have been….

Measuring prints…

Not exactly small feet – if you’re a cat…

The least helpful member of the CSI Team. I guess he decided he’d supervise.

The office lizard is actually an office chameleon! Even cooler!!

Friday night house guest.

Friday night – I’d seen that we were supposed to get some storms but I didn’t think it would be anything too fierce. I guessed wrong on that account because by about 8 PM, things were pretty crazy. I think it was lightning about every 20 seconds and I just knew at any moment my lights were going to go off and Watson and I would be plunged into darkness. Amazingly, the lights only dimmed a few times but never actually went out. Now my TV did give up the ghost at about 8:20 and so Watson and I had to content ourselves with listening to some music until the storm passed at about 8:45.

I’ve always know my dog was afraid of bad weather but Friday night was almost comical (had I not been a little nervous myself it would have really been funny). He tensed up the closer the storm got to us and once it was in full swing, he made every step I made, right on my heels and when I finally sat down on the couch, he made sure to wedge himself between me and the blanket and hide his head. It was worse than I must have realized because after the storm passed, the weatherman was saying thing about widespread power outages, winds in excess of 68 MPH and hail. I’m glad we were spared the worst.

The stages of escalating terror…

Dear Weather Channel app – I think you are very wrong. It can’t be fair outside and also sound like the world is coming to an end..

Houston – we have reached full blown terror mode. Hide until further notice.

The storm receding into the night…bye-bye!

Hello leftover tree limb from the storm…

This leaf was plastered to my car – I thought it looked cool.

On Saturday afternoon, I went to see Man of Steel again. Yes, you read that right – I’ve now seen it twice. I think it is just that good and I needed my Superman fix just one more time. I used to get a weekly dose of the caped crusader with Smallville but I haven’t had that in awhile, so I wanted just a bit more of the man in tights. It was just as good the second time and I may have caught some nods to Smallville as well as other characters in the DC universe (anyone else notice that the satellite that Supes & Zod crash into says Wayne Enterprises? Just me? I’m a nerd…its okay.) The second film has already been green lit – so that means more Superman in the near future – and I’m always okay with that.

Stumbled on these at the store – they are delicious. Yep!

So good. So, so good.

That’s about all folks. Like I said, long week – probably because it was so uneventful. This week is sure to speed by since I’ve got lots of wonderful things planned. I swear, there has got to be something to time travel and whatnot because I’m convinced that time just moves differently depending on your circumstance. I’ll leave you to ponder that one and get back to you later!