Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Greetings from the Pocanos
Despite the rain that followed us here we're enjoying ourselves. Read a couple of books, hiked enough to be sore and visited the Eckley Miners Museum.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Twice in the Same Day
John and I rarely go to the movies and today we went twice!
This morning we took advantage of the free family movies at the mall and took the four oldest grandkids to see City of Ember. It wasn't a great movie but it wasn't bad either. John and I always bypass the refreshment stand and I nearly had a heart attack when I paid for the popcorn and sodas! The free movie was far from free so we probably won't do that again.
After the movie we took the kids to lunch. All in all they had a great time.
Alex and Liz chose to sit at the small table across the aisle from us.
Nikki and Mike are easily entertained.
After lunch we dropped everyone off and headed home. We were here just long enough for John to cut the lawn and we went back to the mall to see Harry Potter. It was a good movie I guess. It was probably great if you hadn't read and reread the books as we have.
This morning we took advantage of the free family movies at the mall and took the four oldest grandkids to see City of Ember. It wasn't a great movie but it wasn't bad either. John and I always bypass the refreshment stand and I nearly had a heart attack when I paid for the popcorn and sodas! The free movie was far from free so we probably won't do that again.
After the movie we took the kids to lunch. All in all they had a great time.
Alex and Liz chose to sit at the small table across the aisle from us.
Nikki and Mike are easily entertained.After lunch we dropped everyone off and headed home. We were here just long enough for John to cut the lawn and we went back to the mall to see Harry Potter. It was a good movie I guess. It was probably great if you hadn't read and reread the books as we have.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Roadeo
Saturday was the NYAPT Big Three Roadeo in Albany and I want to give a Big Thank You!! to all of the judges that came down to the conference early so that we could compete. I'm not certain but I think it takes almost as many judges as there are contestants to put on this event. Not only were there volunteers out on the course, the seven team leaders, there were the folks that administered the tests, others that played the part of student, several were runners, others were stuck in a little room all day tallying score sheets, and undoubtedly many more that I haven't mentioned. Everyone was pleasant and worked hard to make sure that the contestants had a great day.
I drove down on Friday afternoon and had dinner with some of the other people there from the CNYAPT chapter. After dinner I spent the evening battling the butterflies in my stomach by studying.
The Roadeo is an all day event with registration starting at 7:00 am. There we were given our t-shirts and contestant number. My registration had gone in late so I was expecting a very high number and was thrilled when they handed me #39! The first event of the day was a written, general knowledge exam and it was tough. I'm always worried that some of the questions are "trick" questions and I over think things. This cost me on at least a couple of questions :( There was also a written pre-trip test that we took later in the day.
We were then divided into "teams" and I was pleasantly surprised that there was someone I knew on my team and I quickly got to know others. Our team leader, Dave aka "Tangerine Man" was great!
Crowd near the announcer's table
I was quite worried about the surprise event, certain that I would have to do some type of backing skill so I was happy when it turned out to be a railroad question. We had to simply sit in the drivers seat and decide whether or not we had room to to cross the tracks and have a 15' cushion behind us before we got to the stop line represented by the cone. I decided that I wouldn't try it and I wish that they had told us what the correct answer was later in the day, when everyone was done.
Surprise Event
One of the activities between events was a smoke bus demonstration. Some of the pictures they used of a burning bus were ones I had taken at the Mass Casualty Incident Drill. How cool was that!
Smoke Bus
Straight Line
Serpentine
Offset Alley
Offset Alley
Parallel Parking
Traffic Jam
Diminishing Clearance
End of the road!
So how did I do? My #39 that I was so happy about turned out to be the 2nd to last number on the course because my class went last. I don't think that really affected me too much but let's just say that I have never had a worse trip around a roadeo course. I was waived off of both of the backing events and I struggled with the events that I normally sail through. Thank you Helen, for being friendly and helping me relax before I drove. I'm sorry your last ride of the day was such an awful one. Thank you to everyone from CNY that hung around to the end to give me moral support! If you guys hadn't been there for me I'm certain I would have dissolved into tears.
I didn't have a good score this year but it was the most fun I have ever had at a Roadeo!
I drove down on Friday afternoon and had dinner with some of the other people there from the CNYAPT chapter. After dinner I spent the evening battling the butterflies in my stomach by studying.
The Roadeo is an all day event with registration starting at 7:00 am. There we were given our t-shirts and contestant number. My registration had gone in late so I was expecting a very high number and was thrilled when they handed me #39! The first event of the day was a written, general knowledge exam and it was tough. I'm always worried that some of the questions are "trick" questions and I over think things. This cost me on at least a couple of questions :( There was also a written pre-trip test that we took later in the day.
We were then divided into "teams" and I was pleasantly surprised that there was someone I knew on my team and I quickly got to know others. Our team leader, Dave aka "Tangerine Man" was great!
Crowd near the announcer's tableI was quite worried about the surprise event, certain that I would have to do some type of backing skill so I was happy when it turned out to be a railroad question. We had to simply sit in the drivers seat and decide whether or not we had room to to cross the tracks and have a 15' cushion behind us before we got to the stop line represented by the cone. I decided that I wouldn't try it and I wish that they had told us what the correct answer was later in the day, when everyone was done.
Surprise EventOne of the activities between events was a smoke bus demonstration. Some of the pictures they used of a burning bus were ones I had taken at the Mass Casualty Incident Drill. How cool was that!
Smoke Bus
Straight Line
Serpentine
Offset Alley
Offset Alley
Parallel Parking
Traffic Jam
Diminishing Clearance
End of the road!So how did I do? My #39 that I was so happy about turned out to be the 2nd to last number on the course because my class went last. I don't think that really affected me too much but let's just say that I have never had a worse trip around a roadeo course. I was waived off of both of the backing events and I struggled with the events that I normally sail through. Thank you Helen, for being friendly and helping me relax before I drove. I'm sorry your last ride of the day was such an awful one. Thank you to everyone from CNY that hung around to the end to give me moral support! If you guys hadn't been there for me I'm certain I would have dissolved into tears.
I didn't have a good score this year but it was the most fun I have ever had at a Roadeo!
Friday, July 10, 2009
State of the Garden
My sister has pointed out that I hadn't been posting much about my garden. There are areas that I am loving right now but there are more areas that I'm not!
I'm happy withbutterfly hummingbird garden between the house and the garage. I initially envisioned masses of butterflies flitting through and instead I see an occasional one fly through. The hummingbirds are the real entertainment.
I'm very happy with the garage side except that it looks like there is an empty area in the center along the wall. I have cannas that are taking forever to get going. They took so long that I gave up on them and planted zinnias and now I have to move them - or just have an interesting mess. Hollyhocks do not get tall in this bed so I'm looking for a perennial that will get tall and not clash with the coneflowers and black-eyed susans that will be blooming shortly.
I'm not as happy with the house side. I planted the red lillies thinking they were the same as the ones on the other side. I love them! but they really need to be moved toward the back. I also love the combination of the red beebalm, gloriosa daisies and shata daisies but they need to be mixed up more because the daisies are all taller than the beebalm and are in the front. There are also a couple of big holes that I won't show you right now that I need a plan for.
The nightmare bed is once again looking scary but I'm still working on taming it. The milkweed smells wonderful so I don't mind working out there right now :-)
The front of the house has become overgrown and just blah. I have major plans for a makeover but will I get it done? Stay tuned.
The back and the other side of the house are so bad I won't even show them to you. They do contain some very pretty flowers however so here are just a couple.
I'm happy with
I'm very happy with the garage side except that it looks like there is an empty area in the center along the wall. I have cannas that are taking forever to get going. They took so long that I gave up on them and planted zinnias and now I have to move them - or just have an interesting mess. Hollyhocks do not get tall in this bed so I'm looking for a perennial that will get tall and not clash with the coneflowers and black-eyed susans that will be blooming shortly.
I'm not as happy with the house side. I planted the red lillies thinking they were the same as the ones on the other side. I love them! but they really need to be moved toward the back. I also love the combination of the red beebalm, gloriosa daisies and shata daisies but they need to be mixed up more because the daisies are all taller than the beebalm and are in the front. There are also a couple of big holes that I won't show you right now that I need a plan for.
The nightmare bed is once again looking scary but I'm still working on taming it. The milkweed smells wonderful so I don't mind working out there right now :-)
The front of the house has become overgrown and just blah. I have major plans for a makeover but will I get it done? Stay tuned.
The back and the other side of the house are so bad I won't even show them to you. They do contain some very pretty flowers however so here are just a couple.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Holiday Picnic
We spent the morning of the 4th with Mom and were just as surprised as she was when my niece called to say she was in town and coming to visit. We left before she arrived but I hear that she had a nice visit with her grandmother. I know that Mom enjoyed seeing her!
Our family picnic was on Sunday and my niece was able to join us. It was so nice to be able to catch up! Good food, great conversation and kickball - what more could we want?
Our family picnic was on Sunday and my niece was able to join us. It was so nice to be able to catch up! Good food, great conversation and kickball - what more could we want?
Saturday, July 04, 2009
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Vanishing Apple
I can hardly believe that it's been nearly three weeks since I posted anything. June is such a busy month here yet certainly there has been time where I could have written something quickly. Quite simply, I needed a blogging break I guess. More than that I needed a break from the computer. All winter and most of the spring I spent 8-12 hours a day parked on the couch with my computer on my lap.
After we moved into the new garage I started having lots of aches and pains, was winded easily and just was not feeling well so I finally broke down and went to my Nurse Practitioner. She took blood to check my thyroid, ordered a pulmonary function test and bullied me into going for a very overdue mammogram. After all the test results were in it was learned that I have very high cholesterol. The only other thing wrong with me is that I am fat. While I was relieved that there is nothing wrong I found the news very depressing. I have always been heavy and I know the only way that I personally will loose weight is by lots and lots of exercise. I have 60 pounds to loose but I'd be very happy to loose 35. There have been three other times in my life where I lost a lot of weight. When I was a teenager I went to live with my father on a farm and chores did the work for me. Twelve years ago I spent several hours a week in front of the TV cursing Richard Simmons. Five years ago we bought this house and spent 12 hour days working to make it habitable.
I have elected to take the summer off. I hope to spend a lot of time working in the garden, moving plants around and expanding beds. While we've been here five years now there are still things that I haven't done yet and some of the rooms already need repainting. I will be moving things around so that I have room to do aerobics. I'm tired just thinking about it.
I do have some fun things planned for the summer. There will hopefully be several family picnics, I will be going to the Roadeo next week and the grandkids will keep me busy. John and I will be spending a week away too.
Hopefully I can get back in the habit of writing with a minimum of Apple whine.
After we moved into the new garage I started having lots of aches and pains, was winded easily and just was not feeling well so I finally broke down and went to my Nurse Practitioner. She took blood to check my thyroid, ordered a pulmonary function test and bullied me into going for a very overdue mammogram. After all the test results were in it was learned that I have very high cholesterol. The only other thing wrong with me is that I am fat. While I was relieved that there is nothing wrong I found the news very depressing. I have always been heavy and I know the only way that I personally will loose weight is by lots and lots of exercise. I have 60 pounds to loose but I'd be very happy to loose 35. There have been three other times in my life where I lost a lot of weight. When I was a teenager I went to live with my father on a farm and chores did the work for me. Twelve years ago I spent several hours a week in front of the TV cursing Richard Simmons. Five years ago we bought this house and spent 12 hour days working to make it habitable.
I have elected to take the summer off. I hope to spend a lot of time working in the garden, moving plants around and expanding beds. While we've been here five years now there are still things that I haven't done yet and some of the rooms already need repainting. I will be moving things around so that I have room to do aerobics. I'm tired just thinking about it.
I do have some fun things planned for the summer. There will hopefully be several family picnics, I will be going to the Roadeo next week and the grandkids will keep me busy. John and I will be spending a week away too.
Hopefully I can get back in the habit of writing with a minimum of Apple whine.
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