Shake, Rattle and Roll with a little Good Night Irene...

I love inclement weather. I love when a storm rolls in, when forecasters use phrases like serious conditions, take precautions...And this summer hasn't disappointed. Thunder and lightening have woken me on more than one night. Short power outages and fire trucks on our street (all is well, no worries, just a scare for a neighbor's house.) And this week...well this week gave an extra special dose. On Tuesday there was an earthquake! 5.8 - 5.9...Yeah, I'm sure you heard. I'm also sure all of the folks that live on the west coast think we're a lil silly. I mean this is a tremor compared to what they've been through. But - it was here and not typical and let me say... wow.

I'll try to stick to the facts here and not be too dramatic. But, things started shaking and at first, I thought big truck? then, maybe something hit the building? I'll admit I did wonder about a plane crash or possibly something destructive at the local Army base. Wish I could've grabbed my phone quick enough to record but it just happened too fast. There was no damage and I don't know of anything that actually fell over but it was a very odd experience that's for sure!

The center was close to Lake Anna - a place we've spent a lot of time. Hoping all is well there.

Not to be outdone, reports of a powerful hurricane headed in our direction began to roll in. Not the typical one that brushes by and barely touches us...but more significant. Now I have to say that living in the western part of the state spared us from the real force. But, It still made for an exciting Saturday night watching the news and making our own storm center in the garage to watch first hand as the rains and wind rolled in. Tucked safely in bed, the windows were rattling a little and with rain pelting against them. And I will happily admit that I love it!!!

Today we woke to gray skies and rain. The last band from Irene was wrapping around to bring her final punch to Maryland.

By a little after noon, there was pleasant blue above us. With a lil of those white happy clouds mixed about.

We drove to the river where we put the boat in and were surprised to find no signs of what the night had provided.

Only difference was that today, the parking lot was empty and there wasn't a line at the boat launch. Guess folks weren't sure what to expect from Mother Nature. And I guess the word painted on the ramp says it all...

We're promised to be repaid with a few days of nearly perfect weather. Low 80's and bright sunshine. Hope you have a great week!

Strasburg as a Sun...

I think in the 7 summers we've lived in Htown, we've been to 1 - maybe 2 Suns games. But this year...well, this year there's been more excitement. Or I'm paying closer attention. Who knows - anyway, you remember we were Harperstown for a time this season...well Harper moved on to bigger and better things. But behind him came more excitement...the town was a buzz. Turns out the Nationals star pitcher underwent elbow surgery which meant he needs to rehab before he can return to the big show. Where better? So along with half of Hagerstown and a ton of other places, we went...

we saw....

Stephen Strasburg, ladies and gentleman....

Impressive...

He's started two games so far, pitching an inning and two thirds in each. He's scheduled for at least one more. Good times in Htown!

Catchin up

It's been a minute since the last post. I've been busy or preoccupied...anyway, some highlights from the past week.

We had special visitors last weekend. Jim's Mom and Dad and our niece Morgan were in town. Morgan has been spending part of her summer vacations visiting for a few years now and it is always so good to catch up with her! Amazing how grown up she is. Makes me proud to be her Aunt! And let me just tell you that they weren't out of the driveway before there was a tear or two in my eyes! I miss her and always love spending time...once a year doesn't feel like enough! But I'm thankful for that time. Here are a few pics from our time together.

We set out for a lil family game of putt putt on Saturday morning...I thought it only fitting to include a pic of the winner! Congratulations to Jim's Mom... :) I love the way he looks like he's studying her technique in this pic - looking for some pointers? (picking :))

And keeping with the recent weather theme, it was hot! HOT!....but look at this sky! Love days like that!

transitioning....

My name is Mendie and I'm a gadgetholic. Not at all made to poke fun - I mean I seriously think I have a problem because I get the biggest high from new gadgets. So...when Jim came home to announce that he had dropped his phone in the parking lot and the screen was no longer working there was a lil part of me racing inside. But, doing the right thing I took it to the store to see if there were hopes of a resurrection. No such luck (ha)...so, I did the only thing I could do for the family - I took Jim's upgrade, got myself an iPhone and gave him my phone. I mean it was the easiest thing on him. We had the same phone prior to the crash so it would require no learning curve for him and I'd suffer through learning a new way of doing things...ok enough of that, I'm excited! :) Did you notice the new addition to the top right of the blog? See it there? That's an app! Have to admit it's not a lot different from my Droid but there are some things. Enough things for me to admit I'm in gadget love....here are a few of my favorite Instagram shots.

Ok, special attention to this pic please! I'll attach the original and the Instagram one....

Do you see it? In the cloud in the center? A face? I was playing around with different effects and all of a sudden it just popped out to me. And now that's all I can see when I look at it. I promise it's an unaltered picture - took from my iPhone sitting on our patio at dusk. Kinda gives me chills - good chills...love that Someone is watching over us!

We're looking forward to a good weekend. Nothing big planned for Saturday which is fine with me! Sunday is shaping up to be pretty action packed though - Julie's work shower for baby Jude and then maybe a baseball game. Rumor has it that a pretty famous Nationals pitcher might be warming up in our own back yard. Worth seeing!

Hope you've had a good week and will have an even better weekend!

Gitty up!

I am blessed to work for Wells Fargo - not only do I like my job but I'm proud to be a part of the organization. Yesterday was a special occasion, we had special visitors. Not the kind you take to lunch and show the operation to, the kind that draws team members out into the heat to look and pet and talk sweet to....these kinda visitors...

Please take special notice of the horses, I swear it looks like they're talking to one another! I'm sure it's just me! ;)

These guys travel in luxury as they should!

Complete with climate control and plenty of room to spread out, they arrived in style!

After taking a few folks for a ride, they were calling it a day, after all it's a little warm out there for them!

So, til next time and I hope there's a next time real soon because I ❤ them!

Off to a great start!

Every morning when I wake up my phone is flashing with notifications...emails, tweets and sometimes texts. Rarely are there things that are really exciting but today?! Well, today, I had a facebook note..hmmm. This is what is said:

Men Men, i just have to tell you - we went to a winery tonight for moms bday and i ordered a grilled cheese that had chips so with my chips, i asked for a pickle, they brought me a huge pickle that looked like they just picked it, all the people looked at me and had a very confused look, so you problly know what i was doing.. i was squeezing the juice on my chips, they must not know how we eat our pickle juice and chips i said all this because even mom and daddy knew right away where i got it from... YOU! & i remember when you first taught me when i was 8 years old. love you and im very sad i havent seen in a long time :((

This is Cierra, she's Luanne's daughter (you know Luanne, yesterday's birthday girl!) and I've known her since before she was born. And for some reason there's always been little things about Cierra that remind her of me. Just little things - personality traits...all the good ones, of course! :) Anyway....

To explain her note a little bit, it happened by accident years ago. I do not like pickles! If I bite into one, well you can have the sandwich it was on because I'm done with it...YUK, but one day buried under my grilled cheese and chips was an innocent little pickle. With all the good food resting on it there was bound to be a little pickle juice sharing going on. Let me just say OMG :) that's some good stuff! Abusing the heck out of the pickle to get every last bit of juice for your chips and grilled cheese is a science that takes work! It needs to be perfected. And let's just say, I've got it down to just that....a science. Yes, I'm sure it seems a little odd to most but don't hate until you try it! ;) And don't expect me to eat what's left because crunching into a pickle isn't happening!

But honestly, none of that is the point. It always makes my heart smile when you know someone has paid attention. I know it's just a little pickle story but it's so much more to me than that. :) Cierra Jade - you made my day! Thank you for sharing and for making me smile!

Happy Birthday Luanne!

Sending special birthday wishes to Bev who I've called Luanne for as long as I can remember. There's no reason why - it's not her middle name, I just like it. I'm sure she loves it! ;)

Hoping you've had the bestest day ever, Luanne!

If you haven't already, stop by Crockett's Corner and catch up with her!

Hotter than Hell!

No really, it is...the high today in Hell, Michigan was 96 with a heat index of 104. Well it was 100 and felt like 105 here! (official weather.com information) And, it doesn't look like we'll see any real relief for a couple of days.

Seriously, it is HOT! My car doesn't lie!


And whoa is us...another air conditioning issue at home. The second this year...since we've had one every single summer we've lived in this house, can we please just pretend we paid forward and skip next year's show? k, thanks! Thankfully with a little help from Jeff's friend, it was fixed in no time and we WERE ARE back to luxury...well it sure feels like a necessity when it's this hot! Nevertheless, we're grateful.

UPDATE - It's still hotter than hell and at this point, I mean the place we all fear we could end up if we don't play nice! We woke up at 1 am to warmth...the kinda warm where you just know something's not right. I jumped up to check the temperature...yep, 81 in our bedroom :( I've been through the drill so many times, I knew what to check.. running down the stairs I started to realize it felt really warm there too....checked that temp...80! Great...now there is zippy air conditioning working anywhere in the house! I know it will all be fixed soon and this too will be a memory but gosh it sure seems like the biggest hurdle ever! Fingers crossed and prayers sent that this too is something 'easy'.....stay tuned!

Update to the UPDATE - we're once again enjoying a cool house. Don't want to bore you with the details and honestly, I'm too tired of thinking about it all to explain - what's important is that it's comfortable and we're GRATEFUL! (please don't let me posting this jinx us! ;))

Still looking forward to the weekend. It's been a REALLY, REALLY long week!

One, Two, THREE!

He's captured my heart! He's sweet and feisty and makes me smile. And I can't talk about him without telling how special he is.

And for the times when he gets me up way too early to go outside (said in a whisper voice that sends him and Titan through the roof with excitment) or when I can't sit in peace because he must be on my lap and then get down and then back up..repeat, repeat, repeat and for the times he goes tilted (angry) because he's sleepy and doesn't want to be bothered by his furry siblings -

well they're all worth it because he's Mason and he's special! And he makes up for all of those things when he runs to get a squeaky toy because Jim just got home and he knows he's going to ask him where his toys are or when you ask him if he wants to see Grandma and he turns his head to the side and then pounces on you, and if you say boat or byes - well be ready because he wants instant gratification!
He's three today! The Mason puppy is three! This could call for a lil doggie ice cream celebration!

Pinterested?

There's a buzz...a techy buzz and I love that! I've been seeing Pinterest.com mentioned here and there. I took a peek, ask for an invitation to join and voila, I'm there. It's fun, it's an easy way to gather your ideas - things you like, sites you want to revisit, a way to connect. I'm still learning and finding my way around the site but I'm think I'm liking it. It's definitely got my Pinterest (ha!)! I'm thinkin' it could be one of those things where time slips away before you know it!

Tell me if you've found it too, we can be Pinterest friends.

At last!

Sometimes you want to go where things are comfortable. Where there’s a calm and peacefulness and this is it for me! There’s nothing better than this view

Or this one

Or watching this

Jim

And this

Jonathan

And this

Jacob

And then there’s the excitement of new things happening on the river. The towpath has been washed out because of flooding. For as long as I can remember, there's been detour signs taking bikers and hikers around where the path used to be. There's new signs, big ones too! Signs that construction is underway.

Should be interesting to watch the progress.

Can't wait to get back....til next time

Bird Magnet?

Yes, they're creatures God made and if you know me, you know how much that matters but I seriously don't like birds! I'm actually really afraid of them...they're flapping wings and God help us all if they get too close! Why then do they have to keep building nests close to the house? To try to convince me that they're not so bad after all? If anything could work the sight of little babies might do it.

Today, Jake and I were sitting at the table and I looked out at the tree closest to the patio. There was something paper like in the branches. Now for sure I was not going to investigate...way too much risk involved - there could be a bird guarding, so I sent Jake ;). He came back in to report that it is indeed a new nest made with a dryer sheet! Guess there's a shortage on twigs? Anyway - back out with the camera....he went!

First of all this makes me laugh! I took this from the safety of the house with my phone!

He did good! and for all of you wondering, he was not attacked or harmed...I would've have run to his rescue - really, trust me!

There are no eggs in the nest...not sure if we're too late or too early. 'We'll' check again in a couple of days!

Hey Jude!

I’m going to be Mimsie and Jim, well he’ll be Duffy to this little man!

And let me just be completely honest and tell you that when this picture came to my phone tears were in my eyes. He’s so real to me now, that’s his little face and while we have a while to wait before we’ll meet him, there’s excitement in my heart.

We're already praying for him... for his health, for his future, for his happiness.

And this little girl is going to be a Mom. The little girl who mothered her brothers and ask questions about if she’d ever grow up, she's going to be a Mom.

You know we love music and I've seen Signature Sound perform many times, but the first time I heard this song, I couldn't help but be emotional. And today, when I gathered my thoughts, I kept thinking God give this child a good heart!

Amen!

I don't have to be me til Tuesday!

Starting tonight, I don't! And let me just say that I'm going to live it up and squeeze every minute I can. I ♥ three day weekends, I do! I like knowing that work is closed and nothing's piling up while I'm not there. Bottle up that feeling cause I'd buy it!

I think I'll do some of this

and enjoy some of that (ok, more than some)

and that

and maybe watch some of these

oh yeah and lots and lots of this

with him

and him

and Jim...

Enjoy!