The 19th Wife

The Dust Jacket Society, our newly named book club gaggle, met last night at Olive Garden to discuss The 19th Wife. I think the general consensus by all of the group members was a favorable one. Honestly, I didn't expect that I would read this book when J assigned it to us at our previous meeting, and I also didn't expect that I would like it. I am happy to report; however, that it's a very compelling story, and once I got started reading it, I couldn't put it down!
The 19th Wife is the story of the 19th wife (although some say more like the 52nd wife) of Brigham Young who was expelled from the Mormon faith and started a crusade to end polygamy in this country. Running parallel to her story, is the story of a present day polygamist family in Utah where a murder has occurred. I did find myself enjoying Ann Eliza's story more so than that of the current polygamist murder tale, but they were woven together nicely. I think the author tried to make this a story about faith, but the polygamist aspect of the story was so intriguing that it's all I could focus on. All of the book club gals were on the same page (no pun intended) when it came to being totally absorbed in this foreign concept. (The Mormon's called it Celestial Marriage.) This book gave us so many different topics and angles to discuss. I'm sure we were quite a sight for the good folks dining at the O.G. We thought about letting word slip out that we were "Sister Wives" out on the hunt for new sisters to add to our family. Hahha. Where was I? Oh yes, we had much to discuss with this book. The dynamics amongst the sister wives, the corruption of faith, the inability to comprehend how this idea of Celestial Marriage ever sounded moral, and what kind of person buys into such a concept? What kind of player was Brigham Young? Very intriguing.
We also discussed the case going on in our area right now of Tony Alamo, a man accused of marrying (i.e. raping) young girls as young as 9 years old who were members of his religious sect. Who allows this to happen? Who are his followers and what are they thinking? I think the story of the modern day polygamist family that the author intertwines with Ann Eliza's story keeps this story pertinent to our times. This still happens. Was it last year that the sect in Texas was raided and all of the children taken away?
While reading the book, I also found myself researching plural marriages, Brigham Young, Ann Eliza Young, etc. You can't read this book without coming away with a curiosity to know more. One of the topics that I hit on while searching for topics online was this interesting event in US history that I had never heard of. The more you look into this era and the events surrounding it, the more it boggles the mind. By the way, if you've never heard of Ann Eliza
Young, You can read her memoirs here. I did.
Note: There are some aspects to the story itself that I didn't care for; however, overall, I would recommend this book on it's historical significance alone, but with the forewarning that there is foul language and a hom*sexual character. I could've lived without either of those traits in the book, but I wasn't the author (who by the way is a VERY nice looking gentleman, I'd just like to point that out.) I'd love to hear from anyone who has read the book. Email me!
And for those interested, our newest title: Hope in a Jar, by Beth Harbison. Not sure what I think of Chic Lit, but we're gonna find out!! Oh, and our optional read this month is The Noticer, by Andy Andrews.

Word Conservation

Swim meet great job headed to beach. Pit stop Baton Rouge Cheesecake Bisto thumbs down. Sun surf water surfboards sunscreen umbrellas lasagna cupcakes. More sun surf water surfboards umbrellas chicken enchiladas add Preparation H Tucks Monistat. Hemmrhoids ouch and wow. Blackberry cobbler flop needed oil. Sharks dolphins lounging reading spaghetti meatballs. Swimming pools cousins sunscreen umbrellas. Ear ache meds prescribed Uncle Dr yay! Leave drive Jackson, Miss. Vomit thunderstorms. Home hooray! Unpacked settled resting. Book club Olive Garden tonight. Yum.

Beach 2009

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I left my heart (and half my body fluids) in Lufkin.

It's quite a long story that I don't dare dream you want to hear about. But you've been around this blog long enough to know what's coming right? You may hear more than ya want. (Isn't it cute how I say you MAY hear more than you want? Hahha. Right.) Take heart. I'm omitting the part of the story where my stall ran out of toilet paper, and I was in no state to acquire more. Not to mention I was trying to decide whether or not I need to attempt tossing my cookies or finish #2. Oh wait, I said I was omitting that part. See? I'm all about being considerate to my readers.
Jack did SUPER at the meet today. He got 3rd for his age division in the 25m butterfly with a time of 19:22, and he got sixth in the division for the 25m freestyle with a time of 15:97. We are soo proud of him. That's the good news. The bad news is that I spent 2 hours in the restroom at the swim meet doing things to that toilet that are not only dastardly but also probably illegal in some countries. Apparently, I got ahold of the Ebola virus, and it spent the morning trying to turn my intestines inside out. Before ever getting to see my boy swim, I had alternated between the bathroom stall (where the walls were sweating and the floor was seeping) and the water meter outside where I hovered and contemplated my northern borders being breached in much the same manner as the southern border had been overtaken. At this point, I begged DaddyP to drive me home, and we left Jack with another swim mom/dad. Horrible. That poor kid had to swim without his mom/dad there, and he still did awesome. Not that he cared, mind you, but I did.
And what I love so much about the beach each year is checking lists, packing, finding all of our chargers, etc. Luckily, I had most of that taken care of prior to today, but still...I do not, even a little bit, appreciate my bowels running amuck in advance of vacation. Wait. That sounds like I'd rather them run amuck during vacation...which is a lie straight from the devil. No. I'd rather my bowels never run amuck. Thank you.
The end.

Shameless Product Endorsement '09.5

It's been a while since I shamelessly endorsed a product, and I promise that this one doesn't involve a FUD. You'll be happy to hear that I'm steering away from a bathroom related endorsement. Er, uhm...ok, it's ALMOST steering away from a bathroom endorsement. Today, kids, we'll be discussing chiffon. If you're looking for oo-la-la french panties that will excite and inspire delirium, maybe these aren't for you. Or maybe they will inspire delirium and make you say oo-la-la because they're so comfy. Personally, I'm not just overly inspired by crawling crotch lines, maybe you are. If so, go in peace and be racy. Myself...I prefer to not twitch and dig with every step. One word of warning, these babies are the size of a toddler when you remove them from the packge; however, there is a note to the buyer encouraging you to BELIEVE, yes, "BELIEVE that this panty will fit you. Yes, it's small but trust them, it will stretch to fit you." This little miracle has a 360 degree stretch along with being invisible. People, we're talking about the Super Hero of undies here. I intend to buy more of them very soon because their claim is true. It did fit. It doesn't ride. And it did stretch. Unlike the VS undies I recently bought with the sales girl's assurance that "Oh no!" they would not crawl or ride. Girls, those VS undies crawled like a 9 month old and rode like a pack of Banditos on a Harley. No gracias!
(*Downside: they have to be handwashed and no dryer! BOO. Hiss.--But they don't crawl and are comfy...so yay!!!)
(In other news, I'll be posting soon about the Book Club book, The 19th Wife. I'm 75% finished with it, and I've got some things to say about it...and the other books on my summer reading list.)

Updates All the Way Around

• Orthopedist says that Sam's leg is just badly bruised. Again, this is the 2nd time we've been told this, but we just have to be sure with the probs he continues to have. Swelling is still an issue, and he can't put his weight on it. Just going to take some time, I suppose.
• Got my rat killing accomplished today with the exception of a beach hat for Sam. I'll be on the lookout between now and then for one. Gotta keep my red monster's ears out of the sun.
• Cleaning house tomorrow and getting bits of laundry done. Bags are 50% packed. :-)
• Jack has his last night of swim practice tomorrow night. He'll be so very sad. I don't know what we'll do when we don't have to go sit for 3 nights a week for 2 hours. We won't know what to do with ourselves.
• Oh, and last but not least, I'm getting my wig did tomorrow and getting haircuts for the boys too.

TuTuTuesday

Tomorrow, we'll be swimming with some friends and having lunch. It's supposed to be a hot one, so it's a good thing we're planning to swim. Otherwise, we'd fry like an egg on the sidewalk. We've also made an appointment for tomorrow with an orthopedist to see why Sam is still having problems walking. Not sure what the answer is, but I just hope there is a good reason instead of a bad one. I never dreamed his pain and troubles would last this long, so I'm a wee bit frightened of what we'll hear.
Tonight at swim practice, we learned that Jack can only be signed up for 3 events instead of the normal 5. We've decided on the 100m IM and the butterfly. We're letting Jack choose his final event between the free and the back. I'm pretty sure he'll go with the free, but he's got a better chance of placing in the back. Most all kids compete in the free and are relatively decent at it. Few of them like, or want, to do the back. On top of that, he's not bad at the back, but he definitely doesn't like it over the free. SO! We'll see what he picks for his final event, but it looks like we're set for All Stars! Looking forward to the meet!

Conversations with Sophy

We haven't had a conversation tidbit lately, so here is one from the file. Last week we were discussing her birthday, and she told us,
"Mom, Dad. Listen to me. I know you already have an idea about what you're gonna get me for my birthday, but I really only dream about two things. One is a Temporpedic mattress to help with these awful pressure points that are damaging my spine EVERY night. It's starting to give me nightmares. Plus, you can jump around on it without your food and drinks spilling! Second, I'd like a microscope because I've really been wanting to see if freshwater and saltwater look different up close."

The Plans They Are a Changin'

As this is our pre-beach week, I'm trying to free up as much as I can, so that I can get the kids good and rested, bags packed, laundry 100% done, and the house cleaned. We had planned to go visit SIL this week to take the kids to the ice cream water park; however, we're gonna make that trip the last week of July when we are home from the beach and swim season is over (more on that later.) I've got a good bit of rat killing/shopping to get done this week. We've decided on what all of our families are gonna wear in our beach portrait, and I need to go find the boys some shirts and myself a sundress or something. We're also doing a Beach Birthday this year for a little funnsie with Cousin E. and C., so I'm on the hunt for some neato things to put in their goodie boxes. Plus, we've gotta get the boys' some haircuts, and of course, Soph and I are getting our beach toes on at the nail joint. In the midst of all the hairum-scarum, we've got our last week of swim team gearing up for the All Stars meet on Saturday in Lufkin. Jack qualified for All Stars in all of his events, bettered ALL of his times, and placed in the Top 10 of his age division! Not bad at all!
I think we may make a run to town tomorrow, and hopefully make it home in time for gym for Soph and swim team. We're in the Beach Countdown '09!! Whoohoo!!

What I'm Up Against

(Sam update to follow)

I'm posting this photo, so you'll see what I'm up against. In this photo, you'll see Sam, his one and only brother, and his wonderful Cousin E~. Do you see that Sam has volunteered (yes, volunteered) to go off of the diving board while encased in 3 inter tubes? I'm sure this little stunt was his idea. 100% sure. Do not blame his accomplices. However, I think this photo may help you understand what I'm up against. We live in a perpetual state of, "OH NO!" with Sam. Always waiting for the next shoe to fall. From what I understand, this is a characteristic that he may have inherited from his father. It was this type of stunt that he pulled off yesterday that left him bruised and possibly broken. So, we find out tomorrow whether or not we can ditch the crutches, etc. He has a fiberglass splint that has kept his leg from moving around which has helped immensely. After dinner tonight, he attempted to walk on his giant splint without the crutches, and he ended up having to stop because of the pain. Not a good sign, but we hope we're just dealing with a really bad bruise and not a hairline fracture. The doc said that the bone was straight, so he didn't think it truly was a break. He was a bit uncertain, since the xray does have a tweek of a line right where he took the brunt of the swing frame that fell on him. We have an appointment tomorrow to see our pediatrician to see if she recommends a trip to the orthopedist. Keeping our fingers crossed!

Once we have that nailed down, we'll be finishing out swim lessons for Jack this week and then heading to the Championship meet on Saturday in Nacogdoches. Jack is really fired up for this meet, and I hope he does great! He has been smokin' at practice this week, so hopefully that is a good sign! He was fourth in the entire age division at the last meet for the freestyle, so HANG ON TO YOUR GOGGLES!!! This could be good!

Next week, I have my yearly female visit on Monday and hopefully lunch with a friend in Shreveport. If you have to subject yourself to such, you should be able to enjoy the rest of the day at least, right? Ug.

After that, I plan on taking the kids to Austin-ish to visit my SIL and kids. We'll be doing our annual trip to the Blue Bell ice cream waterpark and hopefully to another waterpark my SIL has discovered. The kids are fired up! Can't wait to see what we'll get into!

Our beach trip is fastly approaching, and to say that the kids are ready, is an understatement! We're excited to see Cousin E~ and C~ and Aunt R~ and Uncle C~ and Pmil and Ptom.....WE JUST NEED TO GO!!! RIGHT NOW! Just 2 more weeks, right?

We're planning to get a quickie to Vegas in for me and Soph to visit with T and the M's the last week of July. I think it can happen. I think it can. I think it can. I mean, Sophy heard about M&M World there, and who can miss that? And the stars won't be aligned that weekend, so surely it's okay that M2 and Sophy are together. Right?

I think the week after that is the week we'll visit in Arkansas visiting G'Pa and G'Ma Arkansas. I'm sure we'll fish and hit the lake like last year which will make the kids happy. They love visiting G'Pa Arkansas and are looking forward to our trip.

The week following, DaddyP and I will be in Nashville, and hopefully Rachie will meet me there. DaddyP has work there, and if Rachie can meet me there, it will be super! A co-worker will be visiting a college friend there, and we're hoping to be able see the sites while DaddyP works. I've never been to N'ville. Anybody have any info?

Ok, I think the kids are asleep before 10pm for the first time in 2 weeks. I'm off for a swim and then finishing Book 3 of the Twilight series. Hopefully we'll get good info at the pediatrician tomorrow!

Topic Tuesday

Today's topic, What I Did On My Summer Vacation.

Camper lust & Other random oddities

Random:

• I've taken a liking to Hollister tees. Why? They're longer in the waist than most other tees, but they fit snugly.
• New Moon is better than Twilight. I'll start Book 3 tomorrow.
• We've been bit by the Camper Bug lately. Conveniently, there is a used camper, in good condition, for sale in our neighborhood. Hhhhhmmmm....
• Tickets to Michael J*cks*ns funeral were selling on ebay for $10,000. Wonder if the tickets to his concerts were going for that much. I mean, I'd rather pay that kinda green to see a live person, but that's just me.
• I tried a new Cranergy Green Tea from Ocean Spray, I think. I guess it was alright. If ya like that sorta thing. Which I don't. PDad thought it was good, so there's that bright bit of news for Ocean Spray.
• It rained on my house 2 days in a row. Yip. EE!!
• I wish hurricanes would start getting ghetto names. They'd be way more interesting. I mean, TS Blanca? Blanca? Whatever.
• I had a happy meal for supper tonight, and I enjoyed it immensely.
• McDonalds wants me to tell you that their brownie melts are a tasty treat that you should rush out and buy without delay. But my mama always told me that lying was wrong.
• Sam wants a video camera to start "interviewing guests" and "filming scenes" to put on his own "website." I'm giving this considerable thought because I think we could be onto something here.
• Subway has a new flat bread sandwich that I'm gonna take for a test drive eat tomorrow, I think.
• Stay tuned.

Shake it like ya did last summer, baby.

I have no idea what the title of this post means. Don't look at me. I dunno.

Jack started swim lessons today. He mostly was working WAY below what he is capable of, but he can't do Jr. Lifeguard for several more years. In the meantime, we're just refining what he knows. He did have to do a timed water tread today that taxed him a bit. It was longer than he's had to do up to this point in his previous lessons. It was good to see something challenge him, since he thought that he would just show up and skate through it all. His new teacher told him that they would be treading water while holding a brick tomorrow. Hehe. He looked worried for a second. I'll take the Flip, just in case something interesting happens.
We'll be finishing out lessons this week for Jack and doing swim team in the evenings. Saturday is the Championship meet. We had to decide this evening which events to put Jack in and what to cut him from because they can only place in 5 events. Jack has competed in up to 7 events per meet, so we cut him from the breast stroke (his least fav) and possibly the medley relay. He's excited about doing the 100m IM again. I gotta admit, it's my fav to watch along with the free relay. At the champs meet, they'll only give medals (no ribbons this time) for the top 3 places, so he better swim like he's on fire! This will probably be Sam's last meet, since the only meet after this is the All Star meet which he probably won't qualify for...but Jack will. It'll be a long, hot meet. That's for sure.

Another American Moment

We had a very eventful family celebration for the 4th at our house. You see, we inadvertently set our neighbor's front and back yards on fire with the smoldering debris that rained down from the sky as DaddyP and my brother launched a barrage of firepower frightening enough to have my youngest child weeping and saying, "I'm too young to die..." She wasn't pretending to be worried for her life. She was genuinely concerned, as were we all.

Here is a photo of the children during happier times....times when they clapped their hands with glee and shouted, "Hooray for Daddy and Uncle!" Little did they know that we'd soon be soaking beach towels in the pool to toss over the fence in an attempt to not burn down the neighborhood.

And then the testosterone took over and the rest is burned up history. Much like portions of our neighbor's yard.

This was early in the evening, but I love it because Jack looks like the Silver Surfer.

We hope the 4th of July was a safe and fire free event for your family!

An American Moment

To prove how much I love America, I just removed all of the food from my fridge and cleaned and sanitized all of the shelves/drawers. Take THAT Iran!
Now, we're just waiting on some folks to show up, and we'll be celebrating America a wee bit more!

Summer Reading List & and Unexpected Bonus

Someone recently emailed me and asked what was on my summer reading list. That's a good question! I sort of have books stashed in every nook, cranny, vehicle, and website there is, and organizing my thoughts in that direction might be a good idea. Here is the short list!

• I started an audiobook while we were in NC that I don't think I will finish. The narrarator's voice just sends me over the edge with this almost fake, but very pretentious, British accent. It reminds me of Miss Jane from the Beverly Hillbillies. Don't get me wrong, I love the Hillbillies, for obvious reasons. But Miss Jane...~~shiver~~
• Once my book club book arrives from Amazon, I'll start it. It appears to be a fairly large book, so I better get started on it as soon as it arrives. Not sure how I'll manage that with the looming stack of books currently growing on my nightstand. If you've read The 19th Wife, let me know, eh?
• Ok, so Twilight. Yeah. I know what you're thinking. TWILIGHT?? I know. I know. I'm not a vampirey person. I've had no desire to even read this book, but after much cojoling from my SILs, I finally caved. Guess what? It's a good book. There. I said it. And now, I'm reading Book 2 in the series, New Moon. I'm still not a vampirey person, but I wanna know how the story ends. It's intriguing, to say the least. As far as a vampire themed novel goes, I'd say it's pretty tame and not an offensively gorey or dark story. I was actually surprised by how UNdark the story is. If you've read the books after Book 1, I'd like to hear from ya. And honestly, I think I'm one of the few that hasn't, so I should hear from lots of ya. Email me, please. EJo? Have you?
• I'm pretty excited about my latest book purchase for a couple of reasons. First, it's an Austen themed book. Hehe. The second reason I'm excited is because if you have the Barnes and Noble app on your iphone, you can take a picture of ANY book cover and get the book review, price, info, etc. My friend was showing me this as we went through Barnes and Noble last night after Tokyo taking pictures of random book covers. Definitely an unexpected bonus to the iphone, in my opinion. I'm a die-hard Amazon customer, and I prefer their reviews (have their app. too on the iphone,) but still the B&N app is a cool feature. While using it last night at the bookstore, I realized that the book I was buying, Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict, was actually the second book from this author. From what I understand, you don't have to read them in any order, so I'm going to start with the second book and then hit the first. Pretty excited about both of them! The first book was True Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.

Ramblings on the 4th

This is one handsome boy!

And this is one determined girl!
And this is a pool FULL of nutty kids (Miss Determination would not get in the photo!)

We had a blast yesterday with Ye Olde Friend, ~T~, and her four kiddos who are visiting from Vegas--they are originally Texans, just so ya know. As predicted, Sophy and M2 are quite the pair. Several years ago when they both (without knowledge of the other) began wearing only underwear and pretending to be Tarzan, we vowed then they should never be together without serious supervision. Within minutes of meeting, Sophy and M2 were in her room with the door shut and a gleam in their collective eye. Very, very freaky. They played happily together all day, and Little R is a dreamboat, and M3was determined to NOT speak to me, and M1 was such a little lady that I was envious! LOVED spending the day with them! Looking very forward to tripping to Vegas in the near future! Thanks for making time in your CRAZY visit to come see us guys! Loved it.

C~ came over last night to watch the kids while DaddyP and I went out to eat Japanese with some friends at Tokyo. It's a nice place, but I kept wishing I was eating Italian. The sushi was good, at least. The kids had a blast, as usual, with C~. They made paper airplanes with a paper airplane kit, colored, played the Wii, and C~ and Sam looked up the solar system online and arranged the planets hanging from his ceiling in the correct formation and made a sun and moon to hang with the planets. Have I mentioned how much Sam loves C~? Have I mentioned that C~ is as cute as two buttons? Not to mention that she has them in bed at the right time with the house picked up when we get home. Uh-huh.

We're just chilling this a.m. without any plans. It's so ridiculously hot outside today, so we're just staying inside as much as we can. DaddyP has an afternoon wedding to shoot, and we'll be grilling burgers this evening after he gets home. Not sure who is stopping by, but I think the cousins2 may come swim/eat. Uncle M bought a trove of fireworks, which you may recall are illegal in Mtown. I'm sure we'll be setting them off in spite of that law. Nevermind we're a little dry around these parts. We're talking about men and explosives. I'm scared.

My friend E. and her daughter R. may be stopping by tomorrow for a visit while they are in town visiting E's family. Jack will be very upset that her daughter S. isn't with her, but I'll be happy to see E. and R. just the same!

My laundry piles aren't gonna wash themselves, so I better get to washing.

Happy 4th of July, people!

Things that make ya go hhhmmm....

Because my thoughts are all over the place, I think I'll just take the easy way out on this update.

• Ice Age was SUPER! Highly recommended! We saw it today with the cousins 2, aunt/uncle, and the Meem-Pop. I think the adults liked it as much as the kids. Very funny and kid friendly. See it without delay even if you leave your children at home.
• Sometimes ya just need to see what all the fuss is about, which is why I've decided to read Twilight. I swore I wouldn't do it, but enough is enough. My SIL let me borrow it, so now let the record show that every human on the planet has now read it because surely I'm the only one who hasn't. I am one of the few adults that I know that has not read it. I'll let ya know what I think. Speaking of books, I placed an Amazon order tonight that included my book club book and a few others...I'm very excited about one of them in particular. I'll tell ya about it later.
• Michael Jackson's children. Uhm, are they genetically his? Because, dang. Ya can't tell by looking. I'm going with no as the answer to that question.
• Wipeout. Are you watching this show on Wednesday nights? If you are not, you need to have your head examined.
• I'm excited to get to see my college friend, Terri, on Friday! Ter is in The Lonestar State visiting family, and we've planned to meet up with all of our kiddos (and what a brood that will be when they're all together) for a visit! Can't. Wait! FFUUNN!!
• DaddyP and I are going out for Japanese food Friday night with friends while ~C~ stays with the kids....which will make Sam the happiest of boys.
• No swim meet Saturday (sadness!!), but the boys did get their ribbons at last night's practice. Sam actually got THREE ribbons, and Jack got one for each of his events. They did great!
• Speaking of Saturday, we'll probably decorate the mule or the bikes for the kids to ride in the annual neighborhood parade. DaddyP has a wedding to shoot that afternoon, and then we have firework plans for later that evening.
• Another friend will be in town for the 4th, and we're hoping to hook up on Sunday to visit! Squeeeee!
• Ok. I think the things that have made me go hhhmmmm...are over.
• Goodbye.

Book Club Update

The book club convened at J's house tonight. The proceedings kicked off with some cute, tiny sloppy joes, a bucket of grilled KFC chicken, some tasty pasta salad, a layered Mexican dip, and a cake from Kroger's shaped like a watermelon. Oh yes, we were in food heaven! Shortly after eating, we congregated in the pool and discussed our latest book, Holmes on the Range.
Most members gave it a mostly favorable review even while noting it wasn't really their type of book. DaddyP is currently reading my copy and intends to read Book Two in this same series. I believe there are 4 books total, but I do not know how many in our group intend to continue with the series other than the member who recommended the novel.
If you haven't already checked out the book, you can read about it here. I think in order to truly enjoy this novel you might first need a love (or healthy respect) for, first of all, a western novel. Second of all, and most importantly, you must love a mystery. The mystery in question in this novel is a murder that needs solving, and these 2 (one is illiterate) cowhands decide to try their hand at figuring out who the guilty party is. Like I said, this book is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but it's neat to read a book in a group to decide what you did like about it and to pick apart what you didn't. I can honestly say that I've never really read an honest-to-goodness mystery, and I'm glad to have this book to fill that spot. With our previous hostess being a mystery lover, this title was a shoe-in for her to recommend. I know that were it not for being a part of this book club, I would NEVER had read Little Dorrit or Holmes on the Range.
See there? Proof already that this book club is broadening my mind. Now if we don't stop with the random and fattening food choices, it'll be more than my mind that is broadening. Haha.
At each book club meeting, the person hosting the club gets to choose the next novel to be read. We always have one book that everyone has to read. It's like our focal book. In addition to that book, we also have several other books to share/recommend/suggest that we may or may not opt to read. While discussing our focal book, we'll also have these side books to discuss with whomever happened to have read them. This month, along with Holmes, one of the other books that we selected was What the Dead Know, by Laura Lippman. Ya know, I honestly didn't like this book. I liked the plot and where it COULD have gone. Instead, the storyline seemed to get out of hand. Like the author got crazy and then couldn't pull the story back in tight enough to end it on a reasonable note. I had high hopes for the book, but I figured out the 'twist' long before I think it was supposed to obvious. The only other book that I can compare my dislike to this one would be The Memory Keeper's Daughter which I initially chose because I liked the cover (and because the odd little man at the bookstore said it was "wonderful.") This novel was such a disappointment to me. The plot had such potential, but the story just seemed to spiral out of control in such a Jerry Springerish way that I totally lost interest about halfway through the book. To me, these two books were very similar in that they both let me down equally. Haha.
And so, drum roll if you please, our hostess tonight, J., informed us of our next read that we will be discussing at Olive Garden (yay!) Here is some info in case you are interested!
(Sidenote: We also discussed our Netflix interests tonight, and several gals have Lost in Austen waiting in their queues. Can't wait to get mine in to watch! Curious to know if and when you watch it too!) I'm very curious about next month's book. T.Spoon will be choosing that one, and one never knows about her. We'll just have to wait and see, but for the month of July, we're reading about the Mormons!
Must be off to bed now. Cousins2 are sleeping over tonight, and I'm beat from getting up way earlier than I wanted this morning and then having the brain strain of hiring committee added to the day. BARF! Hopefully the cousins and kids will sleep late (haha) in the a.m. We're heading to see Ice Age tomorrow, and I think I'm as fired up as the kiddos!

A few birthday pics~

(Unrelated sidenote: It rained and rained here this afternoon with temps in the high 70's!! Oh, we needed a break from the heat so bad, and we got it! Even now that the rain has stopped, the sun has been hesitant to glare it's ugly face today. Thank the Lord!)
5 minutes into the party, Sam was yanked from the pool for unsportsman like conduct. Actually, if ya wanna put a fine point on it, he was yanked for inappropriate language. Here you see him warming the time out chair.
And here you see the eleven year old blowing out his candles! Check out the hair! In case you're wondering, the other children had refreshments also. I just bought a small cake for Jack's candles and a couple dozen mini cupcakes otherwise. What can I say? It was 136 degrees outside, and I wanted to move things along quickly.

The partying crew!

I'm off to the AT&T store to pick up some stuff for my new phone. (Did I mention here that DaddyP got me the new iphone? Not sure what got into him, but it's charging as I type. Note to iphone-ers, Ebay has tons of VERY cheap cases, covers, accessories, etc. WAY cheaper than the AT&T store/Best Buy, etc. And the selection is enormous! Check it out! A friend pointed me in the ebay direction, and I've found the CUTEST covers there. The best part is that you can buy multiples to change them out for dirt cheap!)

The rumor is true. It's Monday.

So, I woke up this a.m. I know. Shocked me too.
The kids are playing Jack's new racing game for the Wii, My Sims Racing. We're HUGE Mariokart fans, but I think this game is going to be a hit. If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to let ya know the difference. Just email me! Loads of perks compared to Mario.
I have to go to school today for a committee meeting (barf,) and Pmil is coming to stay with the kids. Not sure what time I'll get outta there, but maybe we'll get some time to swim this afternoon before gym and swim team. The boys should get their ribbons from Saturday's meet at practice tonight.
I really should be doing laundry or something before I leave, but I just ain't feeling it this morning. The cousins2 will be spending the night tonight. We weren't really planning a sleepover, but they begged and begged and laid it on pretty thick. So, they'll be here late this evening after gym and swim, and I suppose we'll play for the better part of Tuesday. It'll be nice to stay home, since we haven't been able to do that yet since school got out. As a matter of fact, I think this entire week will be full of nothing. Wait, except on Wednesday. We have a group movie thing planned to see Ice Age. The kids LOVE Ice Age, so they are really excited about seeing it.
Not really sure where June went. Our first week out of school was spent camping, the next week was spent in NC, and last week was swimming lessons with all the Saturdays in between spent at out of town swim meets. June has been a blur! I don't think July will be as busy, although I think I'll be babysitting the cousins2 for a few weeks while my mom recuperates from foot surgery #325. As far as I know, we have a couple of trips coming up in August (Arkansas and Nashville,) but in July, we only have the beach--(ONLY, haha! We're so fired up about going to the beach! Can't wait to get to that place!) I need to talk to my SIL to plan on our annual trip to the Blue Belle water park in Brenham. The kids have been asking about it, and I usually make a trip with them to visit for a few days. Maybe we'll hook that up in the next couple of weeks while DaddyP works.
Well, I've delayed the inevitable long enough. I must bust a move.
Mr. Weather Man says that today will be another cool, pleasant day. Lots of breezes and refreshing showers throughout the day. He also tried to sell me the Golden Gate bridge.

Playing Catch Up and Giving Birth

Sorry I've been such a bad blogger lately, but things have been cuhrazee around here. The swim meet yesterday was h.o.t.h.o.t.h.o.t.h.o.t. The temp was 102, but I think the index was at 108. It was just so hot. The boys both did great and both will probably ribbon. Jack moved up in the standings from the previous week, but we won't know officially until Monday night at practice. They did post a few results before the meet was over, and we know that Jack moved up from 11th place in his division for freestyle to #4 for his entire age group!! He also competed in his first 100m IM, and he did exceptionally well in his heat. We aren't sure of his final standing, but we're thinking his heat time was fast enough to allow him to hold onto the Top 3 for that event. Sam actually (surprisingly!!) placed in the breast stroke at his previous meet, and we saw on the results board before we left this meet that he was 8th in his division. That means he'll get a ribbon at tomorrow night's practice. I'm pretty sure that Jack will ribbon in all of his events from Saturday, but we'll see.
We celebrated birthday #11 for Jack today. It's hard to believe that at this time 11 years ago, he was less than an hour old....being born very late after such a long and disastrous day of laboring. We spent the afternoon swimming and having cake with friends/family, and he had a wonderful time. The adults who weren't in the pool were pretty miserable, but the kids had a good time. DaddyP took Jack out for the evening to have some Man to Man Time, so I'm watching Joan Crawford in a 1939 film called The Women. I'm enjoying this movie immensely. I love old movies, and wow. This is about as old as you're gonna get. Those hats! Oh, why don't women wear hats like that anymore? Off to watch..

Cousin Sweetness

Our dear, sweet Cousin E. is here, and Sophy's world is complete. Of course, she's going home tomorrow....and oh the sadness that will commence. We've had a great week of fun and pretending and swimming and silliness.

Videos from Lil Flip

We're on Day 3 of swim lessons. I took the Flip today, so here are a couple of short shots. Sam is trying to get out of Red Cross level 5, I believe. In this clip, he was having to survival float for 30 seconds, I think. Survival floating is really hard for a kid because they have to fight the urge to tread water. They simply have to be limp and relaxed in the water while only raising their head to get air. Sam had to fight hard not to move. Sophy is also in 5-ish (haha.) Here she is working on her front crawl/freestyle. She had completed one pass prior to this, but she did the entire thing in one breath, so they made her go back and do it over. In case you're wondering, these are the Red Cross requirements for Level 5. (Having said that, I think I'm a Level 1.5.) I can't say enough about making sure your child's swim lessons are the of the Red Cross variety. They really stress water safety and make sure that your child is prepared to hit the water in every circumstance possible.

Day #5-Segways!

(And a Happy #37 Birthday to DaddyP!! He doesn't look a day over 25...or so. Have I mentioned that 5 different people have asked us if we're on our honeymoon? When I tell them we've been married for 12.5 years, they're amazed. Maybe it's because we're immature? Hehehe.)
I hate to leave out a description of our Rooftop tour that we took of the Biltmore House this afternoon, but it's just going to have to take backseat to our Segway excursion! Hands down, this was the MOST fun I've had in a verrry, very long time. After checking in and meeting our guide, Joshua, we spent about 30-40 minutes doing a "rigorous training" for off-road Segwaying. This training included learning how to drive the machine, how to stop (most important,) what NOT to do, how to crash, what NOT to do, a cone driving course--oh-so-much fun, and oh...what NOT to do. Our group consisted of about 3 other couples, all of them were in their 50's-60's...one was the owner of the Tractor Supply stores. He was just an average guy, except he drove a really nice car. Where was I? Oh yes, so we trained in a small grassy field with Josh. He was a really nice kid who loves his job! We had a good time with that guy.
After our training period was over, we started off on our 2.5 hour trek around the estate. I mean, learning to operate a Segway is one thing, but taking your Segway around a place as beautiful as Biltmore, it was like Segway heaven! We stopped several times to rest. You wouldn't think it's tiring, but in a weird way, it really is. If you've ever used a Wii Fit balance board, you sort of have an idea of what it takes to off-road Segway. So, we started out on some paved paths that looped around the outer limits of the estate, and we moved on to greener pastures (haha) to test our off roading abilities. The Segways that we were on are different than the typical version (basically it's the tires that are the differences...that and the off-road version costs about $5,000 compared to $2,000 for the regular version.) Our tour was extremely organized, and Joshua let the group set the pace. Eventually, we vamped up to the chip that lets you smoke around at 12mph. This doesn't sound like much, but when you're controlling your every movement with the balls of your feet and a computerized gyroscope. Trust me, 12mph is booking! But oh the fun! At one point, Joshua gave us "Segway recess" and turned us loose in a grassy field. I'm sad to say that DaddyP was involved in the only crash of the entire outing. And I'm even more sorry to say that I was the target of his crashing. Yes, he took me out in a blaze of glory, right there in the green pastures of Biltmore. I have a slight bruise/goose egg on my shin where his Segway pinned my leg to my Segway and a bloody scratch on my forearm, but other than that, we survived. Somehow, I should've expected a crash out of the Crash King. Haha. Luckily, HE wasn't injured! That's the truly miraculous news!! Hahaha. We were up and back on our way with minimal assistance (once we were able to stop laughing,) and back on our way to the Finale of the ride which ended on a cliff overlooking Biltmore House. Totally, totally an morning well spent!

Biltmore '09

Click here to view these pictures larger

Day #4-I Ate Food in a Vanderbilt Horse Stable

(I've decided to post all of the Biltmore pics in one Shutterfly slideshow. I'll put one together tomorrow night, our last night. I apologize if this is sketchy, but I'm trying to get stuff out before I forget it all!)
We woke up early (with electricity surging through the outlets) and headed down to a crazy breakfast spread that was compliments of Biltmore. Our package already came with breakfast each morning, but they had the formal dining room open to everyone at the inn with a really good spread laid out. After we ate, we went out to catch a shuttle to the big house, which is about 4 miles from the inn, and a really interesting shuttle driver gave us a very good impromptu narration of things as we came across them on our drive. He also explained how and why things were chosen to be the way that they were. The man who designed the landscaping aspects of the grounds (all 8,000 acres of it) had also designed Central Park in NYC (even though Biltmore estate = about 40 Central Parks,) and it was his intention that the drive to the house (by carriage) should build up the suspense of the visitor, give them views and reflections up until the minute that the ginormous house pops into view. And by pop, I mean EXPLODES into view. It was a nice shuttle ride to the house. We met another couple on the shuttle and walked and visited with them off and on through the morning tour of the garden. We've met so many nice people here that we've sat and talked with, toured with, etc. Of course, I'll talk to a tree, so that's not surprising, I suppose.
So, the gardens. Oh, the gardens. I just can't describe it and do it justice, so I won't. You have to see them, and that is all there is to it. The man was a genius. We won't even talk about the designer of Biltmore House because there are no words for that either. I will be able to add photos of the gardens (which will not do it justice...everything is a view that was meant to transition to another view, another garden, another terrace, another wilderness walk, another, another, another,) so I'm afraid even my photos will not do it justice, but at least you'll be able to see those. The house is another story. No photos or videos allowed inside, but it's a piece of work, lemme tell you. We did the audio tour which was amazing! There was a good sized crowd today, but with the audio tour (which is the only way to go,) it was paced and told you all of the highlights that you wouldn't know otherwise. Parts of the audio tour also have sounds and commentaries added, and it added a lot to the experience. We had to keep reminding ourselves that Biltmore House was a HOME. A residence. Not a tourist attraction when it was built. The audio tour explained so many facets of the house like there were 30 dozens of eggs delivered DAILY, the indoor-BASEMENT pool was 10 feet deep, was heated, and had underwater ELECTRIC lights. A full laundry service comparable to that of any grand hotel of THIS time period, 3 kitchen areas, and at any given holiday, would likely have had up to 250+ guests. And not just any guests...these were Vanderbilts, so their friends were famous artists, authors, politicians, etc. It just boggles the mind. And this place was so remote.....and they usually spent days and days on a train and then 7 hours by carriage to get here. But oh man, it must've been worth it. I mean, the rooms. THE ROOMS...floor after floor of guest rooms and baths with indoor plumbing. It's just amazing. That's all I can say.
So anyway, after the tour, we headed to one of the 5 (I think) restaurants on the estate. It is housed in what used to be the Vanderbilt's horse stable. The stalls were made into booths, and the food was oh-so very, very good. Oh, and then we shared a gigantic strawberry ice cream cone, just for the record.
Tomorrow, PDad's birthday!!, we have our off-road Segway tours (they have mud tires!!!,) and a rooftop and attic tour of Biltmore house. We originally had scheduled an afternoon tea, but after seeing how cool the house is (the tour took over 2.5 hours,) we wanted to see more. I'm taking the Flip to video PDad on a all-terrain Segway. You'll wanna stay tuned for that!

Day #3-Thunder From the Mountain

(Yes, we heard officially today it was a tornado, and we took a shuttle around the 8,000 acres today to see more damage. The oldest tree on the estate planted when the home was built was lost during the storm. Very sad.)
After leaving Winston-Salem on Thursday morning, we drove the 2 hours to Asheville, but not before we did a little off road investigating for some good, 'ol North Carolina BBQ. For some bizarre reason, everywhere that we have eaten, people feel compelled to know how we feel about their food because we're from Texas. I can't tell you how many people have directed us, without prompting, to "real Texas BBQ." I guess that we heard about it so much that we couldn't stand it anymore. So, we drove about 20 minutes off of I-40, twisted and turned our way through MORE mountains, to find Phil's BBQ in Black Mountain, North Carolina. I will encourage anyone reading this that ever has the chance to eat at Phil's BBQ to do so! It was amazing, and the North Carolina BBQ sauce puts anything Texas has to shame! TO SHAME! So, so good. So, after we scarfed that down, we were back on the road and ended up getting to the estate at Biltmore around 2:30 or so. Just long enough to get settled in our room, go for a quick explore, and then the storm to end all storms happened. Thunder sounds very, very ominous when it bounces through a mountain range. So, we lost power, and when the storm had cleared, we did a little more exploring and found smashed cars, tons of downed trees, debris everywhere, etc. We ended up just spending the evening hanging out, but we were really lucky that our room had a balcony with french doors. The electricity was back on around 11, and we were so happy to know that it was NOT like East Texas. You know what I'm talking about. When the power goes out, it's out for a lloonngg time!
Which brings me to Day #4...

Weather Bulletin

I'll have to keep this extremely short due to the battery of my laptop being close to death. We have arrived at Biltmore, and it's as beautiful as they say. About an hour after checking in, a tornado touched down in several parts of the estate, uprooting trees and cutting power. I'm sitting in the dark in my lovely room. I'll update tomorrow (if power allows.)

Day #2.5-Americana Continued

We're headed to Biltmore tomorrow. The plan is to wake up early and get on the road. We can't get into our room until late afternoon, but we can drop off our bags and head out onto the Biltmore grounds as soon as we arrive. There is so much to see that we're just hoping to get there as early as possible. We had dinner tonight with a nice girl (manager of the place we ate at,) that sat with us throughout our meal and told us about the points of interest to hit at B'more. So, we're outta here in the a.m. If you ever have the chance to visit Old Salem, I HIGLY recommend it!

This is a part of the Moravian cemetery called Cedarhyrst, I think. It's right at the entrance. There is a sign asking for reverence and respect.
These are the bakers. They were loading the wood into the fire for the next day's baking. They gave us free bread samples. They were niiiiice old fellows.

This red breasted fellow sat on the branch outside of the second story window of the tavern where we had lunch. I'm still dreaming about that chicken pie and trying to figure out how I can get some of it home. They do offer it in a frozen form to be taken home, but I don't think it will last until Sunday. Anyway, this guy sat outside our window for our entire lunch....

The Moravians were very focused on music. Tannenberg, the organ maker, created this (and other) organ for them. It was refurbished, and this old lady, apparently, comes each day to sit and play it. The sounds coming from this organ are nothing short of Heavenly. You can just see her grey hair sticking up above the music sheets. The sounds coming from that organ made us cry. Really.

Day #2-A Whole Lotta Americana

Pictures first (in random order:)

This is a typical Moravian style (Triebel designed the plan, I believe) vegetable garden. From what I gather, families planned out their gardens in drawings. The Old Salem village has used some of those plans, spanning over 100 years, to re-create the early gardens created by the Moravians. I guess what struck me is that these were settlers from Germany and what is now Czech areas, but they seem to have hit the ground running. The town is beautiful by any standards, old or new. Check out this garden! I love this kind of stuff.

(Interesting side note: The gardens rows are diagonal instead of straight.)

One of the street views.
So we had lunch today in a two story tavern. No electric lights anywhere in the building, only handmade candles in lanterns. I had to use the flash to brighten this photo because it was so dark in this room. We were upstairs in one of the sitting rooms. The food was beyond great! It was so good, in fact, that we're going back tonight for dinner. Hehe. The entire village area has candle lit windows, and we want to see it at night. So, off we'll go!

Oh look! It's us! This is what I had for lunch today at the tavern. I think I'll tell you about it in a bit. Very, very awesome chicken pie, Moravian style. Quite possible the best I've ever had. Sorry Pearl.

This has nothing to do with Old Salem or the Moravians. I just like it. Hehe, someone loved their public education so much they felt compelled to express their feelings through graffiti. I sort of like to think a group of public school teachers snuck out one night and did this. I mean, it's all spelled correctly. C'mon. It had to be teachers.

Gentle Readers, we will continue our Flora and Fauna of the Carolinas today with another plant identification. Can you identify this beautiful bush?

Pomegranate!!

This building is pretty nondescript....until you learn that....

It's the second white building that you also see in this photo taken the year after the Civil War ended. At that time, Old Salem was still old. The first building you see is, I believe, the tavern where we had lunch. This is another photo that is probably meaningless until you realize that it's a printers case that stores the different letters for the press. Bit O' Trivia: This is where the term Upper and Lower case came from.

I don't know these gals. I just thought they were cute. All of the people in this village are dressed from this period. I came very close to buying me a bonnet.

This is the Moravian Cemetery (didn't get a good photo of the church, but WOW!) All of the occupants of this cemetery are buried according to their gender and marital status, not according to family groups. All the headstones are flat and equal in size and all face East. One of the headstones that we read was from a death in 1732 and the woman was 99 years old. I would think in that day and age, she was a medical marvel!

PDaddy and I both thoroughly enjoyed our tour through Old Salem today. The weather has been perfect, even if a bit rainy, but we had so much fun today! We took the strollway from our inn to the Old Salem village where we started off with the Toy Museum tour. Being unable to photograph inside the museum, I can't convey to you how neat this place was. Words do not do it justice and to simply say that it was a toy museum doesn't begin to come close to describing it. It was amazing, and we must've looked like kids in a candy store, er...toy store...in there. You can't touch any of the displays which made me gladiolas that the kids weren't there to see it. DaddyP and I both agreed that taking kids to a toy museum (and one such as this) would be like showing a donut to a cop and telling him not to touch it. Ya know? Loved it!

We spent the entire day walking the village. There are people going about activities as if it's the late 1700's, in period costumes, doing the jobs like they would've been done long ago. The Moravian history is very interesting and is something I didn't previously know much (if anything) about. Old Salem is beautiful, and of course, the streets are cobbled and brick, so it's a very quaint scene that you have with the gardens (flower and vegetable,) large trees, and Salem College surrounding the neighborhood. It's just beautiful. We visited a gunsmith (who told us a great place to eat "real Texas BBQ"..and this was before he knew we were from Texas.), a printing press/photographer, silversmith, clockmaker, and bakery. That's not to say that these were the only things we saw, oh not by a long shot! There is so much to see! At the beginning of our day, someone told us to be sure to plan a trip to the bakery for later in the day because they would be "heating up the ovens" throughout the morning. Sure enough, when we got there, we were able to see 2 old guys baking Love Feast bread (a Moravian tradition), and we bought some hot cider and baked treats and went and sat outside in the drizzle on a bench and enjoyed some tasty goodies.

DaddyP and I had lunch at the Salem Tavern. The food was out of this world, and the history of the building we were in just made it that much better. I have to tell you about my lunch. Chicken pie (double crust). This pie is full of the best chunks of chicken. Nothing else!! Just chicken! However, the savory gravy is served spooned on top of the pie, and the vegetables served on the side. I'm a chicken pie person, and THIS was chicken pie to write home about. Wow!

We heard that the tavern had a world champion fiddler/violinist playing tonight, so DaddyP wants to go check out their dinner menu. Haha. Better take my flashlight!

Day #1 - Where Daddy P Tries to End It All

(Edited to say that my friend, T. in Vegas was flying back to TX today to spend a couple of weeks! I can't wait to get to see her!!)
(Edited one more time to say that the Book Club book that I finished was What The Dead Know. Didn't like it at all! Good story, but I didn't like the author's style of writing at all! I am reading Holmes on the Range next.)
(Edited One Last Time to tell my SIL that I expect frequent updates and cruise photos next week when she's travelling! Ahem.....It's time for more than just cookies at that blog of yours!)
Today started really early as we made our way to our flight (hooray for the nice man driving the shuttle with a lead foot) at an unrighteous hour. The lines were already long when we arrived, but we made it through without a hitch. Oh, and I met some nice people while we waited in line. On of them was a sixth grade teacher on her way to Mexico. I wonder if she plans on coming back.....
So after the whole process to ensure that we're not carrying weapons of mass destruction in our flip flops, or carrying explosive agents in our hair gel tubes, or running a fever/cough/sore throat and carrying H1N1 to parts unknown, and proving that PDaddy's collarbone is indeed infused with metal and not bomb making parts, we had some time to wander around and grab PDad a Starbucks and a yogurt parfait and time enough to find a vending machine to get me a V8 and some Cheezits.
Our first flight was nice, although the plane was surely the one that Orville and Wilbur made their first flight in. Jeepers, it was an old clunker. Didn't do much to make me feel better, but the flight went quickly enough. I finished one of our Book Club books (total waste of paper that one was) while PDad watched movies on his iPod, laughing like an insane man & alarming those sitting near us. A rather uneventful flight, thankfully.
We made it to Atlanta in time for lunch and then loaded onto our next bird (thankfully a much YOUNGER bird) to connect to Asheville. Sadly, our second flight was marred by the fact that some Korean chic spent the entire flight tossing up her cookies. Uh-huh, it was as fun as it sounds. I wish I could report that barfing in Korean is more pleasant than barfing in English. Uhm, no. Uh, it's not. If anything, there is more moaning and spitting. We can only hope her ailment was due to motion issues and not actually related to the aforementioned H1N1 or any other mutant strain thereof.
I must take a minute to comment on our flight attendant from Atlanta to Asheville. Her name was Trudy. Trudy Baird. The sheer fact that I know her first and last name should clue you in rather quickly to the fact that Trudy was an interesting individual. Have you ever noticed how you can never forget the things you want to forget?
That is very much how I feel about Trudy.
Trudy Baird.
Trudy whose call sign is "Turdy." No, I'm not mispelling that. She told us her call sign was Turdy. She also informed us that it was in her genetic make-up to be "perky." Trudy was about 65 years old...and in dire need of an audience.
The flight was only 30 minutes long, but Turdy didn't let that deter her from using every one of her spare minutes (and there seemed to be lots of them) to detail her definition of 'hospitality', 'humor', and 'personality.' Somewhere during one of her knock-knock joke segments, Miss Korea started hurling. I totally sympathized with her for the most part. Well, I sympathized with her when I wasn't trying to send her "I'm going to cut you if I catch that" vibes. Miss Korea's brother almost launched when his sister started up. He sat clutching his mouth and gagging behind his hand. Oh, it was the finest 30 minutes I could've ever spent, lemme tell ya.

So between Turdy and The Vomiting Koreans, we had an interesting second half of our trip. Honestly, if the flight had been longer from Atlanta to Asheville, I don't think we could've survived.
So, with that biz out of the way, we obtained our rental car and headed out to find Chimney Rock which is totally cool, I might add. I'm not sure if we enjoyed the vistas or the drive to the vistas more. The river valley and ascent up the foothills looked like something off of the Hidden Valley Ranch bottle. Plus, there were these cute little gardens EVERYWHERE where you could stop and pick your own produce. Obviously, I live in the wrong part of the country. North Carolina is calling my name. (Interesting side note: North Carolina is apparently the day lilly capitol of the world. Every corner, right of way, easement, curb, hill, embankment and berm is covered in them. And if you've not seen what I'm talking about, you'll think I'm exaggerating. I assure you, I am not. I've seen some lovely gardens with day lillies on the drive to Winston-Salem today, and I intend to figure out how to manage one when I get home. Write it down. It's gonna happen.
So, we're in Winston-Salem (home of WFU), and we're staying at the Brookstown Inn. We made the reservations some time ago and planned to go to the Old Salem village. Manda Jan seconded that it was a good visit, so I'm excited about seeing that tomorrow. Other than that, I'm not sure what is on tap for tomorrow. Probably just some walking and exploring, I'd guess.

This is the view from Chimney Rock. The lake you see in the distance is Lake Lure. If I'm not mistaken, it and the community surrounding it are where Dirty Dancing was filmed. I took this photo in honor of Rachel...who made me watch Dirty Dancing 4, 289 times when we were in HS.

In order to reach the pinnacle of Chimney Rock, you first had to take a 35-40 minute stairway trek. You read that correctly. Of course, there is an elevator for pansies...which I am not. We conquered the stairs, and I'm not ashamed to say that we had to stop and rest about 3 times. The thighs they are a burnin'. Last week, it was the Stairs O' Despair at our cabin, now this. I am enforcing a no stair policy for the rest of the summer.
I've been very interested in the flora and fauna of this area. It's very much like home and so different in many other ways. As we made our way up the mountain, we noticed this growing everywhere. It has pretty pink and white blossoms and resembles a Magnolia tree. You'll be pleased to know that it is a Carolina Rhododendron.
And now we come to the end of it. Where the Koreans and the vomit and Turdy were just too much, and DaddyP contemplated tossing himself over the edge of Chimney Rock.
Don't do it!

Heading out

We'll be leaving tomorrow bound for Dallas where we'll leave out early Tuesday a.m. headed to ATL then Asheville. I'll have my laptop with me in hopes to log on and upload pics/update. We'll drive our rental buggy to Winston-Salem for our first two nights and go on to Biltmore (squeee) from there on Thursday. I'm a bit anxious about flying, but I'm holding it together. I actually love flying, but it's the crashing that I hate. I mean, duh.

If swimming were easy, it'd be football.

Most of the swimmers write some form of a message on their body. Some say, EAT MY BUBBLES. Some say, I EAT CHLORINE FOR BREAKFAST. I thought long and hard before I came up with Sam's message for today.

He fell on his way to the ready bench (and again later off of the starting block) and a lady stopped me and said, "You're the miracle kid's mom, right? Well, he just fell down, but I think he's okay because he kept going." That's our Sammy. He just gets up and keeps on going. Sam worked his hardest and did a great job for a first year swimmer. He placed last in each event, but it's all about the exposure at this point, right? He had a blast and didn't injure himself too badly when he fell off of the starting blocks before the 25m freestyle heat; however, it did embarrass him a little to have to stop the meet. He continued on and gave it 110%. He's such a cool kid! He had no idea he placed last each time and even thought he placed third once. Haha. I was so busy getting him from Point A to Point B that I didn't think to video him! Then again, my camera battery might not have lasted that long. AHHAA!
Jack did awesome today! He came in 1st or 2nd in all of his heats and placed in the Top 10 of all the events in his age division. Last year his times improved about 3-4 seconds over the course of the swim season. If the same thing happens this year, he'll be in the Top 3 EASILY. We're just happy that he loves what he is doing! I'm attempting to upload some videos. During the breast stroke, Jack's goggles got dislodged. He continued on and finished second in his heat despite the wardrobe malfunction. There was a time that would've reduced him to tears! My, my, we've come a long way! We had to leave Jack at the meet to ride home with another family (thanks Potts family) due to the meet running long and DaddyP being late for an evening wedding. We left the Flip with them, and Mrs. Potts recorded the moment for us! We're looking forward to a super year! If you get a message saying the video is unavailable, just check back later.