Hanna and a beautiful wedding

Hanna - a meandering rain on the west, wind on the east event that threatened cancellation of several celebratory events for people who planned weddings on the first weekend in August. I cannot at this time post pictures regarding this post - I have over 1200 just from Saturday to hunt through. I know they are not all good.

I had my regular 6 month mental episode on Thursday at work. Largely due to the general feeling that I am going crazy lately. I knew this month was going to be hard in my personal life but the past 6 months at work have been so trying and I am only able to hold it together for so long. I even owe Cynthia Hippo hugs - why in the world do I blow up at those closest to me and not the idiots that cause the problems? I am still in need of a manicure but at least my outburst got some other things in motion. I honestly think it is about every 6 months that I do that (except when I was pregnant and the filter was completely absent).

So, I can count the number of drinks I have had since Beca was born on my two hands - all wine. Except Thursday night. I called on my way home and asked what liquor we had. Turned out to be Rum. Fine - we had Coke too. And it mostly worked. Except I forgot to take my night meds and did not sleep all that well. I was nervous about Friday and the weather and everything with the wedding. Friday morning, I finally got to see Beca before the clock clicks to PM on a weekday. After that, I managed to pack Beca and Zoe's things, introduce Zoe to my friend at Biscuitville and get Zoe a dog bone biscuit at Biscuitville (I miss that place when I'm gone), pick up some new orthotics, drop Zoe off at Mom's with all Beca's stuff and set out all Zoe's appropriate sheets and such (all while she huffed and sighed and glanced pathetically at me from the mat by the back door - "lift eyes, sigh, lower eyes, sigh, huff, lift eyes, sigh, huff, lower eyes"), get my glasses adjusted, buy some camera stuff, go to the grocery store, drop off stuff at church, empty my car (a LOT of Biscuitville bags), vacuum my car, pack my stuff, clean my camera, and finally Steve and I strapped the gazebo to the deck. We have yet to determine the final resting position for our gazebo structure on the deck and it was easier to use bungee cords to lash it to the deck and some chairs. And just as we left the Raleigh area (1:10 pm with picking up lunch), the MOB calls and I told her we would try to be in North Myrtle by 4pm. And it had started raining. Various rain bands caught us all the way down 40 (there sure were a lot of people going the opposite direction from us!) and then as soon as we got around Wilmington, we had no rain all the way down 17! It was great! And we got there right at 4pm! I will not divulge my speed but I swear the 17 bypass takes sooooo much time off that trip. I'm sticking with that. The rehearsal was inside with a rain band driving steady rain outside and was only interupted briefly by a visit from a police officer. Apparently the house they were renting sits right next to people who have nothing else to do but complain that cars are in a driveway next to theirs. The NMBPD is on their speed-dial so the officer was more aggravated that they called up during a storm (like the cops don't have anything better to do and are you really planning on venturing out during this weather?) and that they always threaten to sue because they are convinced they are going to pull out into a car coming down the road. It was an amusing addition to the fact that there was a tropical storm already putting a damper on the wedding festivities. The rehearsal finished, everyone knew what they were going to do (well, sort of - I directed the last wedding with the bride's family so I knew a few things that would change from what the Pastor was mandating would happen while he was standing up in front of everyone but it all worked out), and we all went to dinner. It was a neat place - been there a long time and has a lake out back. The kids quickly spotted the alligators! What fun! The dinner was great and the DVD of the bride and groom's lives was wonderful! So are their friends, who we sat with. Everyone was so nice and willing to flex with the craziness of the weekend.

I got our hotel room with my points that I earned last year staying at LaQuinta for weeks. Pretty much glad it didn't cost anything. Next time, I'll spend some money. The only good part is that the King Jacuzi suite was the same number of points as a regular room. Unfortunately, the bathroom floor had been raised up when they put laminate over whatever was there so the bathroom door didn't quite clear my pinky toe and pulled the nail up. And the light on the desk was coming apart - you could pull the part of the light that holds the light bulb completely out of the base piece that it is supposed to sit in. And the wireless was non-existent.

Saturday morning, we slowly awoke and went for the all necessary Starbucks for Steve and sweet tea for me. It was a relatively quiet breakfast for us. I didn't once have to remind anyone to sit down or eat your food or anything. By the time we arrived at the house, the folks running errands had already gone and the rest of the group was slowly waking up. So Steve and I went and checked out the wedding location and then went shopping - it's bad news for me that the Disney outlet moved onto 17 - it was much more difficult to justify a trip there when it was at the Myrtle Beach Factory Outlets past the Waccamaw area. Oh well. We mostly bought stuff for Beca.

Beca's comments on the phone while we were gone "Are you in Muh-rtle Beach? Is it wet? If it's wet, you need to make sure you put your shoes on!". Then when I told mom that my neck had broken out again (ongoing "travelers disease" - happens any time I sleep anywhere that is not my own bed and is aggravated by hair products, sun screen and who knows what else - the QE has found not good pattern and cannot devise an appropriate design of experiment to really figure this one out) and Beca asked me "Mommy why you break you neck?" She's so funny.

By the time we were done shopping and eating lunch, the wind had pretty much died down and it was back to being a typical sticky summer day at the beach. We took short naps (mine shorter than Steve's), got ready and got to the house. I stayed to help the girls dress and Seve kindly became Petie's gopher. They got everything over to the wedding site. I had the girls go to a house near the wedding site to take some pictures - those turned out well and it gave the bridemaids and brides a chance to sit down for a bit before the wedding. The flowers were gorgeous - orange stock for the girls and various oranges and whites for the bride. The bridesmaids had on turquoise dresses so the colors just looked amazing together. From then, everything went off pretty well. The storm had washed ashore lots of creatures - big shells, starfish, urchins, spiny things, slimy things, shelly things, smelly things, and the kids had a blast catching them all. I fussed over the position of the sun and the groom got tired of me taking pictures. The bride was darling through the whole thing. She was just happy everyone was there and that they could be on the beach. Instead of a unity candle, the MOB and MOG presented their children each with a vial of sand - bride had pink, groom had blue. The bride and groom poured it together into a large glass vase. It was very elegant.

The day after a storm at the beach is always amazing. The sky is bluer, the sand is cleaner and the clouds shimmer. Everything was amazing for this special couple. God knew how to bring this together. And it was good. Great, even.

Psych you out

So, one reason I haven't had "time" to blog is because one of my 2 favorite shows has been running season 3 episodes. If you have not tuned into USA to watch Psych, you are missing a hilarious crime show. I love the multitude of 80s references (probably because I get them) and the cast is just very funny. I have no clue when it actually comes on (though I think it is right after Monk usually) - we DVR it (but what is that verb supposed to be, really???).

My other favorite show starts its new season on our 7th anniversary - How I Met Your Mother is the only thing I have found that adequately replaces my "Friends" addiction (that I went 3 years of having to record on a VHS because I kept getting labs scheduled for that night - stupid chemistry that I never use).

I own season sets of both these shows. It is necessary for me to have something funny that is not so serious. unlike my daughter who had a conversation that went like this:
Beca: You are the same, Mommy and Daddy - you have the same hair"
Steve: That's right
Angela: Well, actually, Daddy has a lot more gray in his hair than Mommy.
Beca: Oh
Steve:*big fat eye roll and a grunt*
Beca: Mommy, you need more gray hair
Buh-dum-dum!

Really, I can only laugh at that under my breath or it starts something much bigger and I'm likely to hear "You need gray hair" for a while. Unfortunately, I was picking on Steve one day and told him to "Walk it off". Now Beca tells him that all the time - it's much cuter with the "walk it Off, Daaa-ddddyyyyy" and a big giggle so he can't help but laugh but I didn't think the gray hair bit was nearly as funny as Shawn Spencer and Gus Burton on Psych. It's "lengen - wait for it - dary"!

the REST of August...

I can't believe that month is over and I'm already 3 whole days into September. That was the fastest August I've ever had - of course last summer was so hot it felt like it would last forever.

I LOVE MY NEW ORANGE ROOM! I love it even more because after we attended to the mess that is our jobs all week and Beca's new bedtime schedule and then the fun craziness that is a TEC weekend (copies, take pictures of everybody, make fun CD's!), we went and bought shelves for the room. See, it isn't a dining room - never has been for us! It was largely Beca's playroom with a big old filing cabinet that I got at an NCSU surplus sale (my word that thing is heavy, even without being full), a corner cabinet with my "treasures" (shockingly, mostly Disney), a wire rack for extra kitchen junk (9 foot ceilings/cabinets in our old house to a smaller kitchen with 8 foot ceilings - had to put stuff somewhere), and Beca's toy pile. Oh and there was a hutch in there. Since we never use our fine china and don't actually have a dining room table to sit at and use it, I decided to pack it up and sent the hutch back to Mom's. NOW - it has all my scrapbooking stuff, stamping stuff, place for my computer, AND Beca's stuff, filing cabinet and a somewhat organized wire rack. We divided the room up but by putting the shelves in, I can actually work on my projects at night rather than pray Bea will fall asleep eventually so I can sneak into the room next to hers only to hear "Mommy, what are you doing?" I haven't been caught once! Now I just need a desk chair and I'll be pretty good to go! I can arrange my piles for sunday school, TEC, cards, scrapbooking and everything! So great!!! Plus I type faster when I'm not scrunching up my fingers in my lap. Ooh, and I can see ALLLLLLL of the paper and stickers I have bought. I think I need to use a few things... And Beca's craft supplies will get to join the shelving as well! Actually, one shelf has toys on it already. I have lots of reasons for loving this space but best of all - my scrapbook albums are all out in one place where I can see them and I can remind myself just how much I've done in the few short years since I started. Maybe one day, I can start on Beca's baby book.

Work has been hard lately - I'm now an inspector and not an engineer though at least I am still paid like one. We are short so many resources and the executives don't want to believe that good quality systems will save you money in the end. Oh well. Just keep plugging along...

I'm looking forward to pursuing more photography but we'll see what Miss H. Hanna has to say about that (since the wedding is supposed to be at the beach). I hope she's liking the north a little more than the south for the bride's mother's sake! hehehe! I know whatever the event, it will turn out great and just as it was meant to be.

September is shaping up for a bit of craziness. At this point, I'm just willing myself to hold it together and take it one thing at a time. I am very certain that all the good things will turn out GREAT!

Mid-August

When we got back from the beach, Beca went to school and I worked from home. After I rode my bike to pilates, did pilates and then rode home. It was quite nice except that drivers of cars don't pay attention that there might be something on the road smaller than they are. I got cut off several times. But I felt good and didn't waste gas. Too bad I haven't done it since. I've had to do evening runs and after the beach, the screaming started. My child became possessed or something. Steve spent the whole weekend at his buddy Joe's, playing cards, computer stuff and other things that sound like binary when they speak of it. They probably drank a lot too. Wish I would have. Beca spent the whole weekend yelling at me. Long screams that took every micron of air out of her lungs and tensed every muscle. I could do nothing right and she did not want to listen to any suggestions I had. So when Steve got home Sunday, I went and took a nap. She did this attitude thing for the next week.
That Thursday, Steve had sinus surgery and as I have said before, I am so very blessed to have my parents near me. They took care of Beca most of the weekend. Steve did ok with the surgery but got a little nauseous because he wouldn't eat much right away. Luckily, with this surgery (as opposed to the first sinus surgery), he only had sinus passages opened up so his throat wasn't sore and he ate Chinese food that night. I stayed home the next day but had plenty of work to do on my computer from home. It was a little crazy. And with Beca's new attitude problem, I needed a break. I had begged that a playdate be arranged and Kate's mom, Kristen, came through for me! I got to run a few errands and get some laundry done (I know, exciting) and then made it back to get Beca. She had not napped and in fact she and Kate had woken up baby Melissa! Beca was apparently behaved until I showed up and the screaming started again. Ugh! Oh well - she fell asleep on the way home and then fought me about going back to sleep for bedtime.
So, Sunday, Steve was sill under the anesthesia effects and i decided that it was time Beca go to bed early. By 7:15pm, she was asleep. the next night, tried again - same thing. All week that worked pretty well.
The next weekend was pretty tame - we helped at a friends. Well, Steve and my dad helped Dana with her wiring. I sat at a table and made cards (which I forgot to send later anyway) and Mom and Beca entertained Dana and her mother. Then we went to church (Saturday night service) - first try since the new bedtime. It went pretty good and then we decided to go to an Italian place for dinner. The sky had one fairly small black cloud so we decided to sit outside - Beca can be a little louder that way and not frighten other patrons who would probably scoff at us for having our 3 year old out that late at night. Oh well - she was actually pretty good and VERY silly. We ate and intermittently watched the small black cloud grow larger and darker but not actually move from above us. Lucky for us, it didn't rain on us! Beca wanted to spend the night at Oma and Pop-pop's and since they said ok, we agreed. haha! Actually, we asked. So we could paint our dining room on Sunday. orange. bright orange. yes, intentionally! And with the ceiling painted (oh yeah - had to VACUUM that first - Eww!), the room looks so much cleaner and brighter! Now to figure out where everything went.

Again, no pictures....

Back up to the beginning of the month...

That went fast - we've had a very busy few weeks. And I have tried to update this a bunch of times but it is taking me forever! The pictures will just have to come later (or not at all until I do the scrapbook of all of them - yeah, that won't be any time in the near future).

I headed to Wisconsin again at the end of July - I'm getting tired of the airline industry. Mostly, I feel sorry for the junk food vendors on the plane - or are they supposed to be flight attendants? I just want to know when I'm going to get a hot dog guy and not crappy candy. So I bring my own food and don't give a rip. (Big travel tip - carry an empty water bottle through security, then fill it up at the first available water fountain). I took direct flights because I booked early enough that they really weren't that much more and the guy traveling the same days as me got stuck getting out of Charlotte because of a connection problem. So there - I love my direct flight - you can actually watch a whole movie on a flight (or do what I did and work on data crunching that I get interrupted at my desk doing). I got called up to the desk before the first flight and asked to change my seat so a family could sit together, putting me in an exit row. There was so much moving around and people trying to sit together that my head was spinning. On the way back, I was exhausted, had a headache (another time I'll discuss my hatred of hotel beds), and had a very obnoxious older hippie with little kids ("I finally found myself at 40 and decided I needed kids - and for some reason 4 of them and take them traveling") sitting just in front of me and she talked the whole time. Her voice was really grating and she was overindulgent to her children's every whim. I think I would have rather listen to the kids whine and scream. It was a tough trip for me and for Beca. She didn't want me gone.

She had sprinkler day the next day at school so I got to wake up and tell her that she could wear her bathing suit and water shoes to school! I thought it odd that she was the only kid running around the playground with water shoes on. But when she got home, she did tell me that she didn't have to say "ouch, ouch" all over the playground! The next day I made it to pilates on my bike in the morning then rode back, then showered and went to work because there was too much for me to do and my VPN/wireless connection at home does not like certain applications from work and things take FOREVER to do. When I got home, we had to go buy a birthday present for Kate. Yes, BFF Kate is now 3 too!! After getting home, we had to pack.

Saturday (like the first one in August) was Kate's birthday party - it was an awesome tea party! they made cute hats and even had their cake on beautiful tea plates with real (totally breakable with pretty flowers) tea cups and saucers - for their milk of course. Kristen Sullivan is an awesome mom! OOh - and we all love Neil (Kate's dad) because he got Chick-fil-a and ribs from Harris Teeter (man - Saturday - rib deal in the deli at the HT - it's awesome!!) The girls had a blast with dress up and shoes and Kate got a new guitar - that kid is going to be a singer and musician. And baby Melissa has my favorite baby grin - she's so content just to watch the 3 big girls (she's 13 months).

OK, after Kate's party, Beca hung out with Oma so we could pack the car which inevitably tookk longer than we wanted it to. Then we were finally headed east on 40! We made it to Steve's parents for dinner with his siblings and to meet Bobby's new girlfriend Melissa. Beca was so excited about her uncle Bobby! Plus there were presents awaiting her! We had a great dinner and great conversation and then a good drive to Topsail. We finally got to check out our Halo lighting in the top of the van - it's sooooo cool! And Steve's TomTom, albeit slightly misguided sometimes (umm hello when does shortest route ever include DIRT roads?), is pretty cool. The house we stayed at is Steve's aunt's husband's family's house. It had an elevator and was a gorgeous place! Took us a while to get Beca calmed down and bathed, etc. and then my parents arrived just before midnight (more elevator trips!). Eventually, we all got to sleep.

The next morning, Beca almost burst from her excitement regarding going to the beach. The adults had to appease her for a bit until we got breakfast and the morning going. We knew it was going to be a busy day but it was really great, too. We headed to a family reunion for Steve's family - it's on this beautiful piece of property that overlooks the sound behind figure eight island. And there is so much food - lots and lots of fried chicken!! Beca had a hard time paying attention to any food. She chased Uncle Bobby and played with Aunt Jenny and Aunt Tracy (Steve's cousin). Several trips down to the dock - which is just awesome. We had to watch the hermit crabs and ghost crabs running in the sand. And there was an osprey family in one of the trees. I gave my Dad the camera with the big lens on it and he got some great shots of the family. The hill we sit on is really nice until the breeze stops - then the sun just gets too hot and we decided we needed to go. Dinner was really good (maybe service a little slow) and the shrimp the best I've ever had - the breading was so light but just enough flavor! Unfortunately, Beca was a pistol that evening and even a walk on the "beach" - where at high tide there was almost no beach - didn't actually calm down. Eventually Beca got to bed.

The next morning, Beca and Steve stayed at the beach while we drove with Traci and Carl back home to a funeral - actually a celebration service of Judi's life. It was amazing to hear her husband express Judi's wishes for everyone else. She wanted everyone to have a personal relationship like she had with God. She was one amazing and special person in this world and so many people were blessed by her prayers, cards, and letters. Judi touched so many people so driving back from the beach was just a way to honor her. I'm really glad I was there. And like that, it was over. We drove back to Topsail to find a cranky girl and her aggravated daddy. They had gone to the beach and played for a while. We got back and went to dinner - we had another good meal at a place on the beach. Good food and a really nice place to eat - almost felt like we were out side. Beca and I watched a waiter try to slide a beer down a wire to a kite surfer. It sooo didn't make it. Got stuck on a knot. Then once they got it over the knot, the kite surfer got it all the way down but then the kite sank real quick and the beer hit the sand and spilled all over. Beca was just enthralled with the kites. It was impressive to watch those guys! We also found a little ice cream shop that had Raspberry ice cream! I can never find that stuff - which is probably for the best. Of course, Beca had to have Mint Chocolate Chip (isn't it odd that her favorite ice cream is also the favorite of BOTH of her uncles!).

The next morning, we took a while to get ready and headed to the other end of Topsail to visit with the Blooms and family! Beca was so excited to see her Traci and Richie, along with Papoo, Pam and Allie. Rich helped Beca start a fishing line on a princess reel. She started reeling in after feeling something on the line and as it got close to the surface, Rich grinned and said "Uh-oh, she may not like this". On the end of the line was an EEL!!! Beca's first fishing experience and she gets an eel - that got turned into bird food and fish bait because it wouldn't stop wriggling enough to get the fishing line untangled from around it. Then, she wanted to try again. So Rich set her up again. This time, almost right away, she caught a little silver pin fish - she was really excited! The most amazing part was that she didn't even lose the bait! We put the fish in a bucket of water and she stood so proudly by it! She was soooo funny! then all the sudden, she announced she was done and wanted to go sit on the swing. She also wanted to go to Traci's beach - which meant the beach close to Traci. Down at the beach, we found Tricia and Big Becca (or Becca 2 C's). It was a lot of fun and Rich started Steve on a hunt for "sand fleas" or "sand fiddlers". My dad dug out a big hole (that ingeniously filled itslef in quickly when the tide came in so as not to cause any permanent harm to humans or turtles) and little Beca had fun in that. Beca somehow convinced Rich to pull her around on a boogie board for a while, squealing all the way. I'm still not sure quite how we got her off of it without wailing but I think she was getting hungry. We left "Traci's beach" to get lunch and help Mom and Dad pack up and they headed home. I think we tried to take a nap and then went to the grocery store and got some pizza at a little NY style place (very good but the service was a little less than desirable - I think I remember that being a theme on most beach vacations of mine).

Wednesday was a crazy fun day! Beca, Steve, and I went to the beach early on - she squeals at the waves a lot. We tried building sandcastles (which she had been helping with all week) and I made a moat around this one so the water would just fill in once high tide came. It was very hot out - heat index was about 105 - so thankfully the water was cool. Steve went hunting for sand fiddlers again and I happened to spot a little tiny one before he ever found his first one. Then we started seeing them all over the place. Not my favorite thing and Beca just kept wanting to let them out of the cup or wherever. I think she liked watching them scurry into the sand and burrow down. We weren't out long, knowing we had visitors on their way! I started getting food ready for lunch - we had a big crowd join us! Steve's mom, aunt, sister, nephew, grand mother, great aunt, cousin and her son all came to play at the beach. Of course, we had to eat first and I had been craving a chicken apple wrap - it's been a weekly thing for a little while now. I get one at this place in Durham and I figured I could somewhat copy. Mine had lettuce, chicken, celery, apples, pears, grapes, cranberries, and a ginger pear dressing. It turned out pretty good on a spinach wrap and I had found a few other kinds of wraps too. I also found out that you had to make and eat it right away - it did not sit well overnight. I made a bowl of Ceasar wrap filling too - Steve won't eat much with fruit in it. Then everyone started getting ready for the beach and we all waddled down! I loved watching Steve's mom and aunt head straight into the waves! Corey (Steve's nephew) went right out too, as did his cousin Tracy and her son Aidan. Beca did not want to be out in the waves much. Mimmie and Aunt Margaret looked so content in their beach chairs on the sand! I had to go in early to get some work done. plus, my neck had broken out again - heat or sun must be a triggering factor but it isn't the only one. sunscreen also aggravates it and I had to head in. So, I got my broadband card out and happily worked on the porch for over 2 hours before the beach crew came struggling back in - Steve had to carry Beca the whole way back. But it was worth it! Everyone had to leave but Steve's mom stayed a little longer and got more Beca-Boo time in. That evening, we started packing and cleaning and the next day, Beca and I made one last trek to the beach. She was tired and really cranky but we played in this really cool little tidal pool that had not been there any other day. She had lots of fun just splashing in the water and filling her bucket with water which got more sand than water usually (by volume not weight). She also chased a lot of birds. Then she got screamy about how I did everything and it was a good cue to get off the beach. It was good to get home that night and sleep in our own bed. Granted, it was a day earlier than we had planned but it worked out for the best.
I'll finish more of August another day. At least for now, some of the voices inside my head can chill out about the beach trip.

No envy for single parents...

...but a lot of respect.
I am often reminded just how lucky I really am. Last week, Steve went on a mission trip with our Middle School Youth Group. He really enjoyed it. Beca and I stayed here but my mom had her just as much as I did. It was a good week but I can't imagine what single parents have to do to get their kids to someone who can take care of them during the day, then get to work, then get the kids, get dinner, get everyone to bed and finally get themselves some rest. I still managed to get to pilates, finish my ottoman cover, visit with Beca's old class (she went too and was very happy), frame and hang some pictures, keep the dishes cleaned up (note that I despise doing dishes), do laundry, take Zoe to daycare and grooming, and have dinner with my parents and Beca several times. Beca and I even got to make a few more cards before Daddy came home - she stamped lots of fruit shapes (red for cherries, green for apples, hot pink for Strawberries, yellow for lemons, and orange oranges!). It was a busy week but I was glad there was an end in sight. lucky me...
Friday night when Steve got home, we celebrated Beca's baptism birthday - this was something we had talked about in Sunday School and on the last week they sang the baptism song to her and some of the other summer baptism birthdays. So I had promised that we would celebrate but Steve was gone over the 16th so we went to Cold Stone for blue ice cream with chocolate chips! She loved it. Still can't believe that was 3 years ago and she was so tiny and woke up just as Pastor Dave poured water on her head.
Saturday was a lot of fun. I had taken on the challenge for TEC to make pizzas for lunch during a team meeting with other board members Robin and Andrew. They brought their little Isabel with them and we made 12 pizzas using all Trader Joe's ingredients. There were some leftovers but it went pretty well. By the time I got home, it was time to clean up the mess Beca had spread all over the place and get ready for a playdate with Payton! I had just as much fun watching the girls. They had tea parties, played outside on the playset (beca fell going down the steps and scraped her nose) and with bubbles and then came in when the sky turned almost black and it started pouring - for a while. I got out Beca's dress-up dresses and we soon had a tea party with Belle and Snow White! Payton loved the Moravian Spice cookies (a girl after my own heart!).
They had mac'n'cheese for dinner and then "mook-schakes" as Beca calls them. Yes, I know, sugar. But it meant a great crash later. They ran around the house squealing as little girls do and alternating chasing Steve and running from him. Delightful. Both were sad to go but they were both pretty tired so there wasn't too much of a fight! It was wonderful to see both so smiling and happy - they have spent more of their waking hours together than apart in their short little lives. And since that is something I was never able to have, I hope the Cottle-Chapman-Sullivan (Kate's family) girls club continues for a long, long time!
So again, all the single parents or those who have to be single for extended periods of time, I wish you all the blessings in the world. And please let us know when you need help!

Crafty me

So I've been told over and over again that engineers aren't supposed to be that creative. But the thing is, a good engineer has to be creative. Just not necessarily crafty. But I consider myself an engineer and a crafter, though sometimes it is hard to let go that handmade things are 100% perfect. So I decided to show off some of my crafty projects.

I am most proud of the one I finished today. About 4 or 5 years ago I read an idea for recycling (well, reusing if you ask me) jeans to make a jean blanket and started saving jeans that were worth keeping (boys can make clothes really icky over time). And every time I started hunting through my craft and fabric piles, I would find this stack. So, when the trim on our ottoman finally started coming apart (and I had gotten tired of the color), I got the idea to expand the blanket idea to an ottoman cover. It didn't quite turn out exactly like I wanted with the bottom but it covers the ottoman, which no longer matches my living room colors (you can see it in the first 2 pictures), and shouldn't fall apart any time soon. Plus, it provides a great place to store remotes! We're pretty sure we'll have to clean it out regularly once Beca figures out all the pockets can hold her necklaces, bracelets, rings, and all of the shoes that she has taken off her baby dolls the second she gets them. My next favorite craft has been making cards. I use mostly Stampin' Up stuff for the same reason I use Creative Memories mostly for my scrapbooking. Because in either case, if I go to a general crafting store and just start buying stuff, I end up doing more collecting of products than actually using! Beca now loves to help me stamp and make cards. I can't wait for our craft area to get set up (many more things to do before that happens). What I will say about stamping cards is that you honestly don't have to be creative at all as long as you can copy what some other creative person did. And, most importantly to me, your own personal stamp shop is open at 10 pm when you realize that you forgot to send a card to someone for something, which I realize almost weekly and still never get a card out. It still saves me when I really, really want a cute card though. Anyway, here are some of the cards I made without any assistance (i.e. ideas from Christi, my Stampin' Up consultant because I'm too lazy to go hunting online to figure it out):

A Virginia Tech theme for my cousin Sara for her graduation present - I even had orange wrapping paper! and I put glitter on the flower! A birthday card for Steve's grandmother using Creative Memories cutters.
A birthday card for Steve's nephew Corey who turn 16 in April - so I put 16 presents on the inside! Various cards - some I used for Mother's Day, but not the birthday ones below.

So, lastly, my "craft" project has been getting some photography hung up in the house. I spent a bunch of time hunting through Michael's and finding frames for some photos I have taken. I am very excited they are on the walls and hopefully, I can get some of those posted at some point.

July 4th & the "sprinklers" and "ear pads"

We had a fun July 4th! I just keep not having time to write this down (I have a severe problem with needing to be too chronological in my thought processing so I get farther behind!). But, way back on July 4th, we had a blast of a day. For lunch, we went to Oma and Pop-pop's house for some fun time with friends - Beca met 15 month old Riley who liked to hug and knocked Beca over a few times - all in good fun! Oma's Dana (that's really what Beca calls her) and Dana's Wendy went out and got Beca giggling on the swings for a while even though it was muggy out! It was so sweet!
Beca asked Oma if she could stay at her house for the afternoon and since Mommy and Daddy both needed naps, we said sure! Well, after Oma said it was ok!
We all met up at the Long's house - an old scouting family that are great friends and tons of fun! All 3 boys went through Dad's troop and Dad and Jim are just big kids together. And the one day of the year they definitely don't think straight is July 4th. Since it is light out for a while, we have several hours of mixing chemicals and making plastic bottles blow up. While most of us think it is cool (dude - it's chemicals exploding plastic!), Beca hates it - well, the noise it makes. She would panic and run inside. Until she found "ear pads" - then she didn't want to be without them! We finally convinced her that they had stopped with the noise for a while and that she could do sparklers. She had fun and got singed a couple of times when she didn't hold it out quite right. Whenever somebody said "hold your arm out straight", Beca would thrust both arms straight out. She had so much fun, she even did 2 sparklers at once! Thanks to Maddie and Liz (the Longs granddaughters) for helping Beca light her sparklers!
The rest of the night was interesting - Beca sprinted inside when the guys started lighting off the real fireworks - yes, in a neighborhood and they even had stands to angle and fire the rockets. Good thing the neighbors were out. It was fun to watch until the lightning started answering back. The big fireworks got put away before they even were lit. And then the sky fell out. Poor Maddie and Liz had never really been in a thunderstorm since they are from Washington State and the thunder was so loud, it even scared some of the adults. We attempted to wait it out and watch the Capital Fourth program from Washington DC but Beca was getting very tired. The first three in the car were Beca, my Mom and my Dad. Beca told them that they were going to drop Mommy and Daddy off at their house and then she would get to go with them to sleep at their house. My Dad made her repeat it for Mom again and this time she said it and added "right, Oma?" at the end. She ended up there the next night after playing at Kate's house with Kate and Payton. It was a really fun weekend and I really wish all weekends were 3 day.

Beca's new chucks!

Sooo freakin' cute! My brother bought Beca one of his favorite things in the whole world - he's gotten her several pair throughout her life. This time, they are BRIGHT RED Converse All-Star high tops. He sent them via my mom and she has gotten soooo many comments on them. Generally because she is wearing them with a dress and they just look cool. Beca loves her Uncle Kyle! And one day, she will be big enough to wear the elusive Dr. Pepper Chucks (the only shoes Kyle wears).

Our June vacation - part 2

Sorry this took so long - there's a great picture of our 5 generations! So even if you don't read all this (I largely blog so I'll remember when I finally scrapbook this jazz), check out the pictures!


Tuesday through Friday of our vacation was definitely interesting and really not what we expected to be doing in June. We thought - yeah, June, warm weather!! We'll be outside at one of the pools that 2 of my aunts have. Yeah, not so much. It was seriously not even 70 degrees Tuesday through Thursday. Fine by me for the most part but that's just a little too chilly for swimming.
Tuesday was interesting for other points. Mom, Grandma, Beca and I went over the hills and through the woods to go to Uncle Henry's pretzels - it's a Mennonite farm in this gorgeous valley and all these girls are working there in their beautiful long dresses and aprons with their little white caps. We always buy bags of broken pretzels and this time I got 5 soft pretzels too. Fresh from the oven, they haven't hardened yet. They were soooo good but a little salty. Beca loved it.
Just a warning that this post is somewhat descriptive on sickness so if you don't want to read that, skip the section in different font.
On our way back, we called to check on my Aunt Lynn (the back problem) because she had gotten pain meds the day before and we were hoping she was up and doing better. Well, that was far from the case. She had gotten very sick and we decided to go down and help even though she said she didn't need it (nurses...). Steve has gotten sick several times on medicines (as big as he is, medicine affects him so much more than most people) and he always needs anti-naseau something. Plus Beca is a gagger, especially when she has a cold, so we know most of the tricks. Biggest key to getting sick is not trying to eat or drink anything right away - even medicine. NEVER, EVER put anything in your mouth for at least 2 hours after you last got sick. Just a good general rule. No water, no toothpaste, nothing. Just go to bed or lay around and watch TV!

Anyway, we finally got Lynn to her doctor and then back in the house and finally on the couch. During this, Mom and I had gone to pick up Mammy who is almost 96. Beca likes to give her hugs and talk to her because they practically see eye to eye. 5 generations! It's so cool. We took a hand picture of all of us and then piled all 5 generations into the van to get some pictures taken. That meant driving back past my grandmother's house, which was good because I needed Beca's clothes! Now, I love my Portrait Innovations in Cary - in 2 hours or less, I've had pictures taken, picked out pictures, and had them printed. This PI was even better - it was fairly new so it wasn't jam-packed and they have much larger waiting areas, which is soooo smart because people don't get as aggitated when they aren't crammed into a space with strangers and their children. Beca was a total ham for the whole photo shoot and we got her 3 year pictures done too! While we were waiting for the pictures to print, we dropped into an Italian place next door that had wonderful food! It was nice having 5 generations all sitting around the table together! I felt guilty because Steve was sitting at Lynn's but it turned out ok - he was just watching the Discovery, Science and History channels and chatting with Lynn to keep her occupied. She's doing better now - it's probably pretty hard to learn the pain management and healing can take a long time. I say it like that because I live with chronic pain and will never be 100% so now it has to be really bad before I think something hurts.

We finally drove back to Mammy's house and dropped her off (can you believe a 96 year old lives by herself in the house she has lived in for years?!?! still quilts too!). Then we went to check on Lynn and pick Steve up. Kat came home while we were there so Beca had to hang on her for a little while! It was very funny. And there was some dress up as Kat's Disney princess dress collection from when she was little was turned over to Beca (Snow White, Minnie Mouse, Alice in Wonderland, and Belle's Blue reading dress - all really nice fabric with embroidery dresses). Final drive tally for the day was about 2.5 hours in the car. The cool part for me is that I learned a few different routes I didn't know before! And I love driving up there. We have no hills like that in our area. None. Beca panicked one of the first times we went over a hill really fast on our way to the wedding but Pop-pop quickly said "WEEEEEE! Now put your hands up!" to which my brother and I prompted responded "WEEEEE!" and put our hands up. Beca soon got the hang of it and would go "whoa!" with a little panic in her voice and then stick her hands up after we were over the drop part of the hill and say "weeeeee!"

Wednesday, Steve and I had to drive my Mom to the Philadelphia airport. My grandmother watched Beca for us and took her down to Lynn's to get Kat and then head over to her sister's farm where they had 5 border collie puppies that were all getting ready to go to their new homes! Beca loved it and then she went back and entertained Lynn for a while. As soon as we got back from the airport, we picked up Beca and went to my Aunt Denise and Uncle Troy's house - he's my father's youngest brother. They are also Beca's godparents and not that much older than I am. Their kids are 5 and 8 now so Beca has lots of fun with them. Andrew is such a caring kid (at almost 8 while we were there) and was very careful to make sure Beca was ok and not going to hurt herself. The good thing about Beca is that she is willing to try things but if it too much out of her control, she will step back and reassess the situation. Similar to her mother. We had another birthday present, lots of fun new toys to see, and more presents that my mom had sent over - little remote control Disney race cars. Denise and I just like to chat and since it was storming off and on, we pretty much stayed inside and begged the kids to play in their rooms. It didn't work that well. Once there was a break in the storm and the kids headed outside. Tried swinging but the trampoline was so much funnier. Rachel and Andrew kept jumping like they usually do and poor Beca couldn't even stand up. But she kept laughing and it was hysterical!! Until the big thunder boom on top of the lightning clash. Ok, back inside. Then a nice downpour. Beca was starting to get really tired but we knew she wouldn't nap unless we put her in the car. She didn't make it to the Yellow House restaurant in the Scenic Oley Valley. (and it's pronounced "yellow haus in the scenic Oh-lee Voh-lee" - very Penna Dutch) With a crashed out kid, we stopped by my Uncle Glenn's new house in Birdsboro (where he has since moved to retire from the Marines), less than 10 minutes from my Grandmother's. We got a tour of all the work they had done. My grandfather was too funny - even though Beca was asleep, he still went out and checked on her to make sure she was ok! She's charmed them all.... Dinner, bath, and bed. Day done.

Thursday - much more low key. My uncle had mentioned Shady Maple the day before - he was taking his staff from Villanova ROTC there for breakfast to celebrate his retirement. Everyone up there knows about Shady Maple - like people drive 45 minutes from Philly just to go. It's this HUGE buffet and they have all the Penna Dutch foods - scrapple and many others, plus donuts and other baked good, french toast, pancakes, an egg stand (not just omelets) and on and on and on. It's just massive. So my grandmother went with us and we ate a good breakfast but Miss Cranky Pants couldn't sit still. We did start seeing clean cut young men walking around in Villanova ROTC shirts so my grandmother started talking to one and he was sort of eyeing her like she was crazy - until she said she was Colonel Wagner's mother. Then he straightened right up. I almost giggled but that would have meant dropping my donut and potato cakes. Beca continued her cranky, wallowing self - even though she had slept in that morning quite a bit. Talked to Glenn a little, bought my grandmother a hanging basket of flowers (twice the size of the ones at Lowe's for half the cost - and the cutest little Mennonite boys hanging out with their mother were selling them). then back to the house. We were going to take Beca shopping but my grandmother offered to keep her for a while! Yeah!! So the shopping in PA is so fabulous. Clothes and shoes are tax free - which makes so much sense year round and not just one lame weekend of the year. Because as we all know, you have to wear clothes all the time or you get arrested. So why should we pay tax on something we HAVE to have?? Tangent, I know. Anyway, we headed for the outlets (which is one of the first places I ever learned how to find when my grandmother moved to Reading). We found sneakers for me and Steve and then bought a drill, which I have since claimed as mine because it is just cute and it is white so that means it should not be dirty. We ended up in the men's section and Steve went on a shopping spree. Which meant 8 pairs of shorts and 2 pairs of jeans for $100. So cool! And he got plaid shorts. I was shocked too but they look good and sort of stylish on him without being too young for him! We then went to a suit store and found a suit for him that actually fits instead of looking like he inherited the suit from someone stockier and rounder like his other 2 do. We realized that if we were going to make a movie that we better go to lunch. i actually figured out how to get to the movie theater and found the Italian place we had lunch in the other day! Lunch there was equally as yummy! Then we finally saw our first movie together in months - it was Indiana Jones and it was a good entertaining flick. Maybe not the hardest to crack the code on what was going to occur next but definitely a good romp through Indy's later years. It was time to get back to the little one and rescue my grandmother who was sucked into a chair under a sleeping Beca where they had been for almost 2 hours! It took Beca a while to wake up from that one. Another yummy dinner and then the packing started. Bath, packing, packing, packing, bed. Steve didn't sleep well at all.

Friday - pack, leave, travel - made it to Potomac Mills in 3 hours (folks, that's amazing on a Friday to get around DC). Stopped to shop!! Some Disney magic and spoiling for Beca (including a new Princess game for the Wii!), some red Robin for lunch and then a call to my friend Johanna - sorry we didn't stop on this trip!!! And then, as luck would have it, into the frensy that is post-noon traffic heading out of DC on I-95. How hateful! So we took a little detour on US-1, which I like some parts of so it worked out. Drive, drive, drive. thankfully, Beca and Steve both slept a good part of it. Finally, we arrived at the North Carolina border!! Steve decided to take the last 2 hours. Thanks to Robin and my mom, we knew that President Bush would be flying into Raleigh at some point in the evening. So we went to the east of Raleigh, got to our house, cleared the rental out quickly, and rushed to return it. I think we were one of the last cars allowed into the airport area. Returned the car (a day early but it was a Hotwire deal so no money back - who cares, it was at least a whole day cheaper than any deal the silly rental agencies were offering and we disliked the Chevy enough to get it out of our possession (with over 1600 miles added to it!)). When we left the airport, we got stopped. Oh, there's President Bush. how convenient. Who are these crazy people that schedule folks to arrive on a Friday night during rush hour? Just plain nuts. And that's the second time Bush has interupted part of Beca's vacation - the first was her first trip to Disney and we got stuck on a monorail and weren't allowed to get out or move the monorail. What a pain politicians are. Nobody closes down highways for me (yes, Daddy, we know you get an escort by highway patrol when they want their server fixed).

Anyway, overall it was a good trip. We didn't do anything that we didn't want to do. Definitely did some things we didn't expect and really, that's ok. We had fun just visiting and watching Beca interact with family. And oddly, Steve ended up with more than I did out of the shopping trips - how weird is that? (Minnesota made up for it though - silly work!) But oh, my bed the first night back - heaven is coming home to my sleep number (30).

Finally, I'm done with June (I hope).